Surfing Waves

So I bought my first board in October and I've only taken it out twice. In large part due to being busy on the weekends and shitty waves in Galveston, but also because transporting it with my current config freaks me out. I've got a 9'6" board in a slightly bigger bag on top of my Mercury Sable with a soft rack tied so tight it creates temporary pressure dents in the roof... and the thing still hums and flies up like mad as soon as I get above 30mph.

So... here are the questions.
1. I'm thinking about buying a new car (for other reasons too) and am curious as to whether or not anyone has tried to fit a 9'6" (or close) in a Ford Escape?
2. How much of a difference will a standard, hard roof rack make in securing the board and reducing the vibrations?
3. Is it worth trying a smaller bag first that fits more tightly around the board so that the bag isn't filling with so much air?
4. If I do end up getting a new car with a standard rack, do people have any preferred board racks these days? (Yeah, I did do a forum search, but it looks like many of the roof rack threads are months to years old so I figured it might be worth asking again.) : )

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Ashley

Polysterene and rope. Thats all I use.

Ford Escape is a nice car, I used to have one. Never had to fit a longboard on. I could fit my 6'3" inside.

I recently got a 9'8" (month and a half)...
I've been strapping it to the top of a '97 Saturn SL2 w/ soft racks.
I noticed the dents in the roof too. It has me a little freaked out as well. The dents go away when I take the board off, but I hope they don't turn into permanent dents . I loves my new board, but I sure don't want to screw up the car...
I've got a Toyota Matrix too. Can't fit the board in there all the way either (I need like 2 or 3 more inches ), but I can put it in through the hatch and have it stick out the hatch a little bit. The problem is the wife is driving that car and she gets off work after me and I can't wait that long . I think I'm going to need to institute a swap...

Thanks, hiphopdec!

Driftingalong, I hear you on the car dents thing... Sorry about your frustration with just barely being able to fit your board in the Matrix! (But it does give me hope for the Escape). Good luck with the swap!

I'm still particularly interested if anyone has thoughts on questions 2 or 3 above...

Thanks!
Ashley

In case anyone happens to wonder about the same thing in the future, I just thought I'd follow up. I tested the cars and my 9'6" board and extra long bag fit inside the Escape as well as the Mercury Mariner and Mazda Tribute (twinned vehicles, I know, but the Tribute is actually a little roomier inside). I had to put the whole back row down and recline the front passenger seat and then it fit diagonally from the front, right dash to the back left corner of the car. And I ended up getting the Tribute. : ) Looking forward to work settling down a bit and catching some waves again soon!

Thanks again for the replies!

-Ashley