Putting a Roof Rack on Your 2018 Nissan Leaf

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Robert Ouimet, a 2018 Nissan Leaf owner from Canada, shares his experience of putting a roof rack on a 2018 Leaf and what he has learned from installing it.

If you are thinking of putting a roof rack on your 2018 Leaf, here's what I learned today.

We had a Thule rack fit for our Toyota. Normally you'd get a new 'fit-pack' for the rack pillars and maybe you'd also have to upgrade the pillars, but in most cases, can do a change to fit a new car.

However, Thule is still working on a fit pack for the 2018 Leaf, expected in January. Our dealer in North Vancouver expects delivery end of Jan.

Yakima has a fit kit now, so we ended up trading in our pillars and bars for a new Yakima rack - our dealer gave us 30% of original value for our used rack so I took that deal instead of trying to sell on Craigslist.

The Yakima roof rack will accept our Thule ski box, so I guess we're set for winter. We opted for the aerodynamic bars, but I can still hear the when up over 50k. Nothing serious, but noticeable. We haven't put the ski box back on because it's too early for our local mountain skiing, but I expect it will put a dent in our mileage as the box is quite large, though very aerodynamic. I'm thinking of keeping a spare time and a jack in there for the winter. Will keep you posted.

The roof rack doesn't look too bad in black on a gun metal grey Leaf.

Editor's note: Some Leaf owners have found out that you can put the skis inside the car, if you don't mind sacrificing a back seat. Have you ever installed a roof rack on your Nissan Leaf? If yes, please let us know what you have learned from that experience.

By the way, the new 2018 Nissan Leafs are costing customers under $17K - here is how.

Submitted by David Radzieta (not verified) on October 29, 2018 - 9:47AM

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NIce, We have receiver hitches on two of our LEAFs for bike racks and a mini trailer. Been thinking about a roof rack for a canoe and kayaks for some time now. Best cars we have ever owned. After about 150,000 cumulative miles now we have saved over $20K USD in gasoline and countless thousands in oil and repairs. We (family of 3) actually save about $500 a month in gasoline compared to our former commuter cars -- Titan 4x4 PU truck, Prius, crappy Camry.

Hello David Radzieta: I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf, and love it!!! No more pumping stinky, dirty gas, and no oil changes from mechanics leaving oily finger prints on my car door...

I thought about getting a hitch installed on it, but Nissan doesn't make one for any of the Leafs. Other companies make them, but Nissan said that if it's not a Nissan part, they don't recommend it. I'm reluctant to have one installed, because if something happens, it would be my fault, and would not get reimbursed for the damages. I will have installed something that wasn't meant to be there.