Thread: Quick question, how should I reffer to a SUV?

I'm stuck with this... I'm supposed to be writing a drama here, and the word SUV just seems to break the overall mood of the scene.

Basically, the actual car model is something along the lines of a BMW or Mercedes. The actual car is not important, but it must be a SUV.

Here's the sentence in question:

Originally Posted by Myself

In front of them was the parking lot. John led everyone to his car. It was a <HELP>

I managed to write something for the first time in months, and now I get stuck with something this silly. Is it because it's 2:00am?

The first thought of mention of a vehicle in a novel came to mind for me, Michael Chrichton's "Jurassic Park".

Scanning through it I found where he introduces the SUV's for the first time. Here is how he worded it:

A line of Toyota Land Cruisers came out of an underground garage beneath the visitor center. Each car pulled up, driverless and silent. Two black men in safari uniforms were opening the doors for passengers.
"Two to four passengers to a car, please,..."

and the next mention of them:

Ed regis pressed the intercom button and said, "In keeping with the nonpulliting policies of Jurassic Park, these lightweight electric Land Cruisers have been specially built for us by Toyota ...

Hope that helps. Per this example, it's perfectly fine to just describe them by name.

That's exactly what I was going to say.

Or you could use the words for which SUV is an acronym, with a tough-sounding adjective preceding them. I could do this for you, but if you do it yourself you will have learnt something.

What about chelsea tractor? (our slang for SUV's).

People carrier was the slang before SUV, although SUV implies a level of sportiness not inherent in a Land Cruiser! A Land Cruiser is a derivative of a Land Rover or a Jeep and may more correctly be described as an MPV, Multi Purpose Vehicle - The Land Cruiser is ubiquitous, so why not use its name.

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm still not quite sure of what I should do... The problem is that saying BMW or Mercedes usually means a luxury sedan or sport car, same with most expensive car makers. In the case of Land Rovers, it works for the same reason it works with jeep: there is a direct association between the term and the type of vehicle, whereas BMW X5 still leaves you wondering what kind of car it is (and most likely, you'd still think it's a sedan or sport-car). Another thing is that I don't want to go into specifics; my narrator doesn't have knowledge of such things.

Oh, wait... I got an idea.

One of the characters present on the scene is a leg-paralyzed, math-genius girl. Perhaps it would be a nice touch to make her a car junkie (subtly, though)?

If not, maybe I should pick another style of car, like a pickup! (pun intended)

I think you should just put down "car", or "truck" for now, and continue writing your story.

You can return to it later and re-write that small segment if needed. Don't let minor obstacles keep you from continuing the race. If you reach a hurdle, jump over it. Don't stand there with your hand on your chin saying "hmmmm, how would you describe this hurdle?"

Put your characters in the car. Move on with the story. You will have a better idea of how to describe it later on, when you come back to it, in your editing phase. That's my advice.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

I think you should just put down "car" for now, and continue writing your story.

You can return to it later and re-write that small segment if needed. Don't let minor obstacles keep you from continuing the race. If you reach a hurdle, jump over it. Don't stand there with your hand on your chin saying "hmmmm, how would you describe this hurdle?"

Put your characters in the car. Move on with the story. You will have a better idea of how to describe it later on, when you come back to it, in your editing phase. That's my advice.

Cheers!

I did this

You where two hours late, though. Still, thanks

I ended up just writing:

Coming out of the station, they were met with blinding sunlight. Across the street was the parking lot. John walked over to a silver car near the entrance. It was a BMW utility car, large enough for 7 people.

“Okay, hop in. I’ll put the stuff on the trunk.” Said John, releasing the car locks with his remote. He headed towards the back of the car with the luggage.

I'll come back to it later. I'm training myself to stop fretting up over the little details. The writing isn't as pretty, but at least I advance at a reasonable pace.

Originally Posted by KyleColorado

I think you should just put down "car", or "truck" for now, and continue writing your story.

This, for me, is the best option so far.

I would think that if you give the reader a specific model, they will know what you're talking about or possibly look it up. Yes, if you just say Mercedes or BMW, people will automatically think of a car, but if you use Mercedes GLK350 or BMW X3, they will know (or find out) that it's not a car you're referring to.