Roof Rails

Does anyone know how the roof rails are installed on these cars? Dealer has a car I want and it has roof rails which I don't want. He said he could remove the rails and swap them with a car that doesn't have them. Said they just bolt into anchors under the plastic roof strips so it wouldn't be leaving any drill holes or anything like that. Thoughts? Something about this doesn't feel right but curious what you all think. IF the anchors are built into the car then I would think they were painted and clear coated when the entire car was painted. Bolting something into the anchor and then removing will remove any protective coating? Am I over thinking this? The dealer said he would remove the rails but then tried to charge me for them so now anything this dealer told me makes me suspicious. Anyone know how those plastic rails are held in place too? Appreciate the help!

The rails are bolted in place with 2 bolts at each corner. Installing and removing them is relatively easy. The trim strips on the roof would then be swapped from the vehicle without the rails so you'd have one piece trim strips on each side. Yes threading the bolts into the mounts would take off a bit of paint but it won't be significant. The only moisture the mounts would be exposed to would be atmospheric humidity so it's not going to rust from the top down.

I would expect the dealer to charge you labor to do the swap so you probably won't save money on the deal but that would depend on your negotiating skills.

The black plastic strips are actually a combination of plastic + aluminum backing. They simply snap into place and held below the trim at the edges.
However, I don't think they provide complete protection against water from sipping in, I believe some water could get in.
As I live in sunny California, I don't know if this is a real rust risk or not.

Koz60 said:

The dealer said he would remove the rails but then tried to charge me for them so now anything this dealer told me makes me suspicious.

Click to expand...

There is a test to determine when you should be suspicious of what the dealer is saying. - Check to see if his lips move when he is talking.

Mine were on the car when I bought mine but part of the install procedure is to cut a few pieces. Install instructions here.

http://ep.yimg.com/ty/cdn/yhst-24809172479195/cx5roofrails.pdf

Notice Step 2 where molding are cut.

I made a how to here:

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123815898-Roof-Rails