I have a 2009 VW Jetta Sedan (4Dr). It has the 2.5L Engine in it and it gets 27MPG city/highway average, 30MPG if only highway. My previous car did a lot better than that, but the rusty ole chevy prizm didn't look as good.

Anyways, I'm an IT Field Technician. I've been keeping a 5' Werner MT22 ladder in the car w/ the back seat folded down. Its a nice ladder, extends to 10'. Problem is it takes up too much space and is a little bit of a pain getting it in and out of the car. I would rather keep it on the roof.

Now, besides the $300/+ that its going to cost to do that, I'm worried about loss in MPG. Of course I can always take the ladder off when I'm not going to be needing it, I suppose. But I'd rather leave it up there. For me I think its somewhat of an image thing. That is, I wouldn't mind driving around with a ladder on my roof and eventually signage on the car (which is a pretty nice car, I've gotta say). Things like that catch people's attention if done properly. I mean lets face it, how often have you seen a nice ladder on the roof of a newer VW?

Some people have told me I should just give in and buy a truck. However the work I do isn't really like that. The space that a truck or large cargo van has to offer would be wasted. I simply don't need it all. And a sedan or even a wagon suits me a lot better.

All that said, how much worse MPG would I get with a roof rack?? I've asked Yahoo answers and I heard its minimal, but they were driving big trucks and maybe thats why.