Can't decide?

If in doubt, please trust us with these Recommendations...

There's always a price / quality trade off when choosing a 'Best Buy' - our emphasis is on best quality in each price range. The price differences between cheap and quality boxes are, after all, insignificant when compared to most car running costs - not usually much more than a couple of tanks of fuel.

We have a "90 day exchange scheme". What this means in practice is that if your box is not as suitable for your purposes as you thought it would be, we'll exchange it for a box of comparable quality - we'll pay the return carriage. The details of this unique scheme / guarantee are shown on our Terms & Conditions pages. The bottom line is that, subject to a bit of commercial commonsense, we'll go the extra mile to make sure that you're not left with a box you're not happy with.

If you've come to this page without reading our Information pages, we suggest you have a quick read of these pages first. Then have a look at the Product Range pages where you'll find pictures, prices, and comments on individual boxes. We aim to answer most if not all of your questions, as well as guiding you to the type of box which will be most appropriate for your needs.

If after reading all of the above, and this Recommendations page, you still aren't sure which box to buy, please click here to specify your roof box requirements and return a list of suitable boxes.

In any event you certainly won't go wrong with one of our package deals, which are outstanding value for money.

Our recommendations are as follows:

Short Wide boxes - BUDGET

The Kar Rite Odyssey 380 (£128.95) has been a solid bet for many years. If you're working to a tighter budget then have a look at the Kar Rite Odyssey 320 when bought with CRUZ roof bars as part of a £130 Kar Rite Odyssey 320 package deal, the bars and the box for only £130!

Short Wide boxes - TOP QUALITY

If you don't want to carry other things on the roof apart from the box, have a look at our KAMEI 400 package deal - whichever locking Thule or Atera bars you need, (your choice), and a top quality box, from only £265!

The KAMEI Delphin 380 (£179.95) is the obvious choice, Runner Up in the 2008 Auto Express test.

Medium Long Medium Wide boxes

The dual side Farad 450s are an obvious choice, starting at £164.95, available in silver-grey or metallic black. We have some new Bargain Farad 450s from time to time. The KAMEI Delphin 340Ks at £174.95 are proving very popular, being top quality at a mid market price; they're available in right hand or left hand opening. Thule's Atlantis boxes are available in two similar sizes, the Atlantis 200 and the Atlantis 780 - also appearing in new Bargains from time to time. If you can't decide which we'd recommend the slightly longer and thinner Atlantis 780 (which uses its extra height to boost nominal capacity, but we think it's a better looking box). Also check out the new Atera Odyssey 820, a new design for 2008; we have these as a box and bars package, for a limited quantity promotion, at only £249.95! The KAMEI Corvara 390K DuoLifts, starting at £239.95, have a similar foot print to all these boxes, with quality and user friendly features as good as it gets - "close to being the perfect roofbox" (Auto Express, 2008). They're available in silver, titanium metallic, black metallic.

Long Thin boxes

Have a look at these four and decide which style you prefer: Autoform Explorer 370 (metallic black or metallic silver), KAMEI 300. The KAMEI 300 is 60cm wide and is proving to be very popular thanks to its looks, pricing, flexibility, quality and symmetry - you can put two of these boxes side by side even on 108cm aerobars. From time to time it's also available as a package deal. The KAMEI Corvara 310 DuoLifts are just superb - available in silver, titanium metallic, black metallic. The Thule Atlantis 600 is a very good quality Medium Long Thin box which will appeal to people who don't want their box to stick out over the windscreen, even if they sacrifice some volume as a result.

Long Medium Wide boxes - BUDGET

The new KAMEI Delphin 470s have got to be our all round family-on-a-budget "Best Buy" boxes, available in right hand or left hand opening.

Long Medium Wide boxes - TOP QUALITY

Another tricky decision. 4 boxes on the short list, some with multiple colour options: Autoform Explorer 430 (black, silver, metallic black, metallic silver), KAMEI 450, KAMEI Corvara 475 DuoLift (silver, titanium metallic, black metallic). Which shape do you like best?

Conclusion? Really each of these boxes is almost equally as quiet, easy to use, and useful. The one thing we can all agree on is that you can get a huge amount into each of these boxes and, what with dogs, children etc., having a box of this size makes all the difference! Most families will be able to get all they need into a box of this size and shape. You want a firmer recommendation? One of the KAMEI Corvara 475 DuoLifts; you'll be very satisfied. Too expensive? Go for a KAMEI Delphin 470 - you'll have no regrets.

I want as big a box as possible

The dual side Farad 550 is the obvious choice in the mid market, with prices from only £199.95; it's available in grey or metallic black. At the top end, the Atera Odyssey 900 does a similar job to the Thule Atlantis 900, but the downside of both boxes is size and weight for single person handling. The Autoform Denvers are slightly better quality than either the Atera 900 or the Thule 900, but are only single side opening. The Atera Zenith 850 and Thule Spirit 820 boxes (black, glossy black, metallic silver, pepita glossy) are super quality. Size and weight may be no big deal for you, but give some consideration to using 2 boxes; most of our 2 box deals provide a greater capacity than one box, usually at a similar price, but with much easier handling, and the flexibility to change the set up as the family grows up and requirements change.

The Best Box

What in our view is the overall Best roof box on the market today? All things considered - especially bearing in mind quality, reliability, and ease of use, but also individuality and all round smartness - it's going to be the KAMEI Delphin 470, available in left or right hand opening format at £224.95. We're just starting to use these, the replacements for the Delphin 460s. We had a pair of 460s in our staff 'pool' for almost 8 years, one silver and one carbon design, drove them around the UK and continent at high speeds in both summer and winter, saw one of them scrunched inadvertently (and hard) into a multi storey car park (we rubbed off the paint with white spirit), frequently overstuffed them and were always amazed that their lids could still be shut so easily, and the locking bolts pushed home! Both boxes look almost as good now as they did when they first came out of their cartons. They've proved to be strong, secure and completely reliable.

Our Runner Up is the KAMEI Corvara 475, now starting its second summer season in DuoLift format. These are tops for style, sophistication, build quality and user friendly features, available in 3 colours. Families looking for boxes which are large enough but also flexible enough for the medium term, e.g. leaving roof space for a couple of bike carriers, need look no further than one of these two.

Don't forget about our 90 day exchange scheme - just in case you aren't convinced that you got the right box first time.