Home » Car Sports Racks

The bag is nice and the size is great (and the no PVC is where Thule needs to head).... BUT... it ripped the first day I used it (had a stroller in it, and the seam ripped straight through) and it is definitely not 'weather-proof', it rained for only a few minutes on our trip and the inside items were wet. Probably a great bag for soft items in the desert... but not for all the time use... Come on Thule! Make a better PVC free bag! We know you can do it.

I ordered this pack for medium length road trips (200-500 miles). I frankly didn't need, nor have room, for a hard box so the Caravan 857 seemed like a good compromise.

When I went to use it for the first time I noted that some of the stitching on the zipper seemed to be unraveling. I didn't think much of this problem given the Velcro flaps and such, but half way into my first trip the zipper tore open and the inside weather-resistant lining completely shredded (see other reviews). Additionally, the bag is far from aerodynamic (as portrayed n the photos); it reduced the gas mileage of my sedan by about 5 miles per gallon over the course of 500 miles.

To compound the difficulty with the actual bag, I received less-than-helpful support from the rather surly staff that man the support desk at Thule North America. After getting lectured about the tolerances of the bag, they told me to email the details of the incident along with a shipping address for a replacement bag. It's been a month and I haven't received the replacement bag and my emails continue to go unacknowledged (when i call they tell me to email them the details).

I'd have to say that the whole experience has put me off Thule products.

I literally made this purchase while on vacation. We traveled 250 miles with the car fully loaded. Passengers were cramped. Many cars passed us having some kind of cargo device on their roof. We all were comparing different types along the way. So, I went online to compare prices and shipping. Just about everyone was at the same price point, but Amazon killed the competition with only 15.00 for 2 day shipping. It arrived in plenty of time and when we left to go home, the car had some room. The product is well made and with 13CF of space, it was a blessing. Storage at home was a breeze as well. I folded it back up, put it into the carrying case and hung it from a hook in the garage.

The seams ripped and the velcro came loose the first time we used it on a 750 mile trip from San Diego to Moab, Utah 06/08. We were only carrying 4 soft duffle bags, and it wasn't over-stuffed. Although we did not encounter any rain, I doubt the bag would've been weather-proof beacuse the liner on the inside of the bag shredded, and made a real mess. On a positive note, none of our bags were damaged and it did survive the trip home. Thule is sending me another bag, and hopefully it won't repeat. Be careful about purchasing through Amazon... 30 day return policy.

We've used this for two trips (~40 hours driving time) this summer and it has held up well so far. The inner lining has not cracked or broken- I read several reviews on other cheaper products, and that seems to be the first to go.

It has handles on the sides, so you can take it off the car if you have two people, and use it like a duffle bag.

Seems to be sturdy and well made.

We haven't driven through any hard rain, so I can't say anything about waterproofing, but I suspect it will do well.

I will hurt your gas mileage, but any topper will.

Once we tied the straps together, I didn't appreciate any wind noise from it- my only beef is that there's nothing to secure the straps once their tightened down and they flap around quite a bit. I wish they had some way of keeping those tidy.

UPDATE: we drove through our first rainstorm with this bag. Only about 15 minutes of rain, but hard rain. Puddles of water inside, and I am very meticulous about installing it and zipping it up. Bummer. Good for beach gear and stuff we don't mind getting wet.

We needed some extra storage space for vacation this year, so we considered a rooftop cargo bag. I wanted something that was not heavy or clumsy, inexpensive and could attach to the side roof bars on my SUV. The Thule Bag seemed to fit my needs so I bought one and tried it. I was impressed. It was easy to pack and was easy to attach to the roof, but you should have another person to help you get it tied down tightly. It took a lot of highway miles without any flapping noises or need for adjustment. When unpacked, it folds nicely into its own travel pack for storage. Excellent product!

We recently purchased the bag for a trip to the mountains because we wanted to use all the passenger space in our denali. It worked great and we were able to get 3 large duffles, pillows, snow clothes and boots all on the roof. It saved us lots of money since we didn't need to gas up two cars to travel. Our trip took 7 hours and we traveled during the day and the bag held up fine. We just had to unload it before we pulled in the parking garage but it was nice to be able to easily store it. This was worth every penny.

I like this bag very much, however, I thought weather resistant meant rain would not penetrate the cargo bag. That is exactly what happened to us. It wasn't the end of the world, but did cause a little headache having to dry things out. We had to put things in gargage bags the second time we used it, just in case of an unexpected rain shower. I like the fact that it stores easily and it is very roomy. It eliminated us putting items all around our children and making them uncomfortable for the six hour drive. Huge bonus!! I would recommend this for people who can't store those big, bulky roof top carriers.

While we like the idea of this soft Cargo van (for easy on and off), after a few hours of driving in the rain, eveything was SOAKED from my babies pack and play and stroller to golf shoes. Not sure that i would take on another trip unless the sun was going to shine for sure.

Purchased this item but unfortunately it did not fit my needs as I expected. Service was fast and return service was a breeze.

I had been shopping for an rooftop cargo bag when I came across the Thule 857. After ordering I received my order within the specified time and was very pleased. The cargo bag was exactly as described in the product description. I would recommend this bag to anyone looking for overhead storage!

Product is just as described. Have now use it once and seems fine. Had no rain, but appears that it will do well at resisting rain with the lining. Baggies can't hurt if rain feared. No wind noise or other noise if you secure the straps from flapping. I did use a simple rope criss-cross over the top for extra stability. Is a bit hard to load when pre-mounted on roof. Next time will only use lightweight stuff & pack on the ground before tossing on the roof to maximize interior space.

Open the packagae and the thing has two tears along the seam. of course our road trip was the next day, so we used it and Amazon (which is incredible!) sent us a new one in exchange for when we got back.

In addition, it happened to rain one evening and our topper soaked thru.

For the money, Id skip it and save up for a hard shell topper instead.