Sounds like it might be TPO rather than EPDM rubber. easiest way to check is to take off a roof vent interior garnish and get your hands on a scrap. If it is stretchy it is EPDM, if it is not stretchy and has a plastic feel it is TPO. I would have to see pictures of your side areas, but quite often the roof material is clamped down underneath a piece of trim. It has to be secured somewhere, someway, somehow, or it would blow off running down the road.
Aaron