I had an '05 with the recommended and factory installed Yakima roof racks and am now wondering how to proceed with racks on my '08. I noticed the front mounts would slide several inches over time: a little scary carrying bikes and surfboards. My dealer rechecked things, recommended a conversation w/ Yakima that went nowhere. That dealer will only sell Thule to Prius owners, even though it reps yakima as well. I noticed posts saying there has been some confusion on the correct Yakima clips and pads. I will update and reuse my Yakima gear if there's a rock solid solution, if not, I'll start all over w/ Thule if it's any better. The reason I originally choose Yakima is that it's factory recommendation for the space between front and back bars is 6" greater than for Thule: I assumed that would ensure grater stability.
I first tried the clips, then I mounted the anchor points permanently: Clips: Prius Clip Racks And the best permanent solution: Prius Permanent Rack Pads You won't get rock-solid with any clip-on solution. At least not without some sort of damage to the car/paint. I've been using both clip-on and permanent racks from Yakima for 20 years or so. On sevearl different cars.
