Originally Posted by Giesela

Thanks for all the comments, lots of good stuff there.
So with a little care it sounds like the housing should hold up to
some careful leaning/loading/unloading. I use one of those little house rugs with a slightly rubberized back on the roof line currently so not worried about the paint. Also looks like maybe there is a new side loader option than the one I was thinking about. Thank you for making me look into that more.

If I end up kayaking a lot more in retirement, (one of the things I'm hoping) I will def look into that. Def don't want to haul around a ladder, I haul around a bunch of stuff as it is. Know a guy with a Cruiser that has to use a ladder. It also adds an element of accident waiting to happen. I'll be 60 this summer and don't expect to get stronger as a I age. I also know I'm asking a lot of questions but seeing how I'm still driving a 97 Blazer (which I absolutely love, its like my Goldilocks car, longer cargo space, great ground clearance but overall smaller, lower) I expect I'll want to drive whatever I buy a really long time unless I make a big mistake and hate it. This is also a really expensive car relative to my budget.
My kayak is only 12'. I suppose I could get a little trailer though maybe that's a bit ridiculous? Certainly would help with the height issue.