Once witnessed an accident on the A9 where a tailgate cycle carrier had become detached and deposited its contents on the road causing a multiple car accident. Driver was convicted and no doubt his insueres were no too happy paying for repairs to about 5 other vehicles.

Get a propper one, its not worth the risk.

My tailgate-mounted rack was hopelessly unstable and I never felt happy with it. Later, a friend had a similar sort of thing and, after mounting it on the back of her Corsa, found that she had pulled up two 'airscoops' where the straps had distorted the tailgate.

I now have an an (Atera) tow-bar mounted carrier with integrated lightboard - I wouldn't use any other type. A friend is very happy with his similar 'Thule'.

Waino

How far are you going?

I've used one on the old Renault Meggie-loaded with a pair of touring bikes. No obvious problems, but I kept the speed down and probably wouldn't want to travel to the south of France at 80+mph with this set up!

On the plus side, they are very cheap, compact to store, easy to install and don't change the aerodynamic drag of the car very much. Lights and plate were visible, but rear visibility was obviously impaired.