I bought a pair of these as open box and were fine. One box was beat up and the bar was a little dirty, but the other was fine. I had a hard time figuring out how to slide the side in with the manual, so went to YouTube to help. Installation wasn’t too difficult and they seem very sturdy.As for noise, anything on your roof is going to make some noise, and these are no different. I like to keep my sunroof on my Subaru open on the highway a lot, so this being on top didn’t add much to the noise. Over 70mph you could hear it getting louder. But at lower speeds, I only really hear a slight whistle noise. Make sure when you put the bars on you put them on the right way. That could be why some people are hearing a louder noise!