I’m writing a children’s novel, and I’m having trouble with a minor plot point. What type of vehicle is the family riding in?
Here’s what to keep in mind: 1. It’s set in the present, and is neither fantasy nor science fiction.
2. It’s a family with three kids (11, 16, and 18) and two parents. They’ve just dropped off the oldest daughter at college. She had four or five suitcases, plus a laptop computer. Everyone else took at least one suitcase for himself or herself. Also in the vehicle was a cat in a carrier.
3. A neighbor saw them packing and described the vehicle as “stuffed full”. The family agrees with that description.
4. The parents are middle class and somewhat conservative with money. The mother owns a small car herself, which was not taken on the trip.
I don’t need a make and model, but do you think their vehicle would be some kind of car (do they make station wagons anymore?) an SUV, a minivan, or something else?
So, 5 people, 9(?) suitcases and some other junk. A minivan/SUV/Crossover (maybe a Honda Pilot) would be perfect. A VW Jetta has an absolutely enormous trunk and you might be able to pull it off.
But I’d go with something like a Honda Pilot, they’re big, not too pricey and the back fills up quickly when you start packing for a vacation.
If you just want something generic, any SUV or Crossover is fine, a minivan (like a Dodge Caravan) would be good if it was 10 years ago) and a station wagon (think Ford Country Squire) if this was set about 25 years ago, though I do still see those floating around some times.
I’d like to see you get nine suitcases and other stuff in anything but a minivan or a very large SUV. If the parents are conservative with money, a minivan makes the most sense due to purchase price and MPG. A minivan makes the most sense in real life, too, if you want to carry lots of people and stuff. There are still lots sold every year.
Station wagons? There are very true few station wagons sold anymore. Although most crossovers are nothing more than raised station wagons, good luck getting nine suitcases, five people, a cat carrier and other stuff in one.
The parents being somewhat conservative with money, I’d think a well-kept station wagon handed down by one pair of grandparents would be a possibility.
Middle class, conservative with money, 3 kids. They have a Minivan.
I have a midsized SUV, and I wouldn’t want to take 5 fully (or mostly) grown people on a long trip, and I’m not fitting 9 suitcases into it either. I’d consider a large SUV as being a bit extravagant for a middle class, conservative family, though not outrageously so.
Minivan, and if you think the stuffed full trunk isn’t enough space, the luggage carrier on the roof, and/or a trailer too. Just don’t put the cat in the trailer!
I’ve hauled loads similar to that in the OP in a Grand Caravan. These were four or five people and all their personal army gear, including rucksacks and footlockers.
I think describing your family as packed into a minivan is all your readers need to know to get the idea. Me, if you said all those people and luggage in an SUV, I would only be able to visualize a Suburban and they don’t make those any more. A financially conservative 5 member family is going to have a minivan.
Though my dad has a huge crew cab pickup that seats 5 easily, plus plenty of space in the capped bed for college gear - in fact, that’s how I got dropped off at college! (many years ago, different pickup, same idea) We were a family of 4.
Okay, I’ll put the family in a minivan, and thanks for the help, everyone. By the way, the cat’s only in the minivan for a short time, not the entire trip. (And no, nothing bad happens to the cat in the book. They just drop him off with someone responsible and pick him back up after they’ve taken the oldest daughter to college.)
One way to emphasize the financial conservativeness would be to have it be a discontinued minivan like a Ford Aerostar or Chevy Venture, which would imply they bought it sometime around when kid #2 was born and haven’t bought a new car since.