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I have a slightly extra wide bar on my Honda, and I carry two kayaks side-by-side. A heavy Hobie tandem Oasis, and a Malibu Mini-X (which is pretty wide). Looks a bit funny, but I don't care.
I don't think there's any scratches or damage from my Yakima Q-Towers. The Q-clips come with these vinyl stickers. My car is old and kind of a beater anyways. I'm not sure where you are kayaking, but if you are doing any ocean kayaking/fishing, there will probably be sand and saltwater dripping or pouring onto your car as you drive home. That's probably more "damaging" than the roof rack. Also, I would imagine the greatest chances of paint damage is constantly taking the roof rack off and back on. I keep mine on, with two sets of kayak saddles. If you have wheels, you might also be able to lay a towel or piece of carpet out over your car front or rear, then put the wheel cart upside down, and use the wheels to help roll your kayak up to the top of your roof rack. I saw a youtube video of this, and it seemed like a good idea. I haven't had to do this, but the video made it look pretty easy for this little girl to load a kayak solo.
Good luck.
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