'02 A4 Avant Roof Rack
 

I'm not prepared to pay the exorbitant amount of money that people apparently expect me to pay for the crossbars for my roof rack ($250-$350). Since I haven't found anything cheaper with "Audi" written on it, I thought maybe the crossbars off a Passat wagon might work as they are essentially the same car on the outside. I also figure (fingers crossed) that it would be cheaper that way since it doesn't have "Audi" written on it.

Am I right, or are there other suggestions?

eBay search?...8E9071151A041...8E9071151A666

Wow...did that same search a few weeks ago and came up dry...:o

You gotta be persistant. People are constantly finding these racks tucked away in their garage years after they've traded-in the car. :)

Can totally understand the cost is crazy!! We do offer new ones for $259, Genuine Audi through our website. Another avenue is to try some Dealers in your area--know it sounds crazy. Bit we, being a Dealer, don't have one at present but we do get take offs on trade ins and have demo units once in a while. Might be worth a try if you don't mind a semi used unit. Good luck, have a great weekend.

aftermarket, aftermarket aftermarket!!
 

Hey there,
no need to get the audi name brand cross bars. Yakima and Thule make them and you'll need two parts, the cross bars and the brackets and as far as i can tell from my wife's passatt (who has an '02 and i have a 06 S4 avant) its all the same. The nice thing about getting the thule or yaks is that they fit a lot more cool attachements and are better than the audi-brand stuff. You do a little research on what you need and you can get used options on ebay all day everyday. I got my set-up for under 125.
good luck!