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I'm not a car person. I'm one of those people who, when asked what kind of car we had rented, I could only respond 'silver'. So, with that in mind, I would love some help from anyone on my f-list with more knowledge than I. I may have to post this to [livejournal.com profile] little_details, but I figured I'd start here first.

I need three cars. One for mini!Dresden!Harry, one for Ramirez and one for Dr. Forrester. Further details under the cut.



1. Harry

Say you were a wizard who was expecting your first child and all you had was a jeep with no back seat. What kind of car would you buy? It would have to be cheap, considering the income of a musician and a wizard isn't much. My Google-Fu tells me that musicians with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra earn $25,000-115,000 a year, depending on seniority. I doubt Miranda would be high up in the hierachy, so I'm leaning towards the low end of the scale.

The other option would be to have Miranda's car be the 'family' car, but I see her more as a public transit person, for some reason. I can't see her being overly attached to a car, so she probably wouldn't need anything fancy if she did have one.

The years are little screwy, since Fay technically isn't going to be born until 2010 or a little before, if I follow my rough mental timeline. So whatever year/make/model is fine, so long as it's cheap, small and safe.

2. Ramirez

Say you were a young wizard in your early twenties making a pretty good salary as a warden/regional commander for the High Council. You'd want something pretty flashy to impress the ladies, but it couldn't have any automatic or electronic features. What kind of car would you buy?

I don't have any qualms about him buying used and I'm thinking he probably still has either his first car, or what he upgraded to after his first car. I need something nice enough that a younger brother would want to borrow for a date.

3. Forrester

Say you were a well-to-do diagnostician, in your late thirties, with a very nice salary and no children. Your wife probably has her own car as well, so you'd want something sleek and shiny and full of cool features. Possibly something Britishy? Maybe? I dunno how well British people make cars? Except for Aston Martins? Because that's what James Bond drives?

The only thing the car has to have is a GPS system, but if that's not possible, I'm sure he can buy himself one.

((You know what's weird? I was trying to decide whether Forrester had kids or not. Once I decided, my inner Mrs. Forrester immediately said 'well, we should get on that, I'm not getting any younger!' Muses are demanding.))

Comments

[identity profile] draickinphoenix.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 11th, 2009 11:42 pm (UTC)
1. Harry - from a safety standpoint, they would probably go with a Toyota (since they have the highest safety ratings right now). A Corolla is a mid-size sedan and by far the most popular, easily accessible, and overall prettiest. THEY LAST FOR-FRICKIN-EVER. And you can get it in any color. The newer models can also have hybrid engines if that helps.

2. Something flashy for a young man making good money would definitely be an old 50's/60's/70's muscle car. An old Cheverolet Camaro ('64 or so) or Dodge Charger, or even an old Ford Mustang would work. If he really wants to make people drool, stick him with a Cherry Red 1969 Chevy Corvette Stingray. *shivers* They're all roll-down windows and manual locks. No computer gook, and analog radios. And they would pretty much scream that he's (1) well-to-do, and (2) a walking sex-magnet. And yes, a little brother would give his left testicle to have that car for a date.

3. BMW. They're affordable to someone with a nice salary, and depending on what tax bracket he's in (and how much he's willing to pay cash), there are a plethora of "unknown" features such as built-in guns and body armor. A GPS system would not be a problem in a Beamer. Think James Bond on crack with a LOT of buttons to push. The cars are simple and unassuming from the outside, but they're ultra-luxurious and can house pretty much any weird surprise/technogadget/fetishpiece that you can think of, whether you need it or not. And it is safe and durable enough that even if they do have kids, he won't have to worry about getting something different. Unless, of course, he's worried about them puking on the seats (but even then a little factory-installed Scotch-Guard would work wonders).

Hope this helps. If you need more info, let me know.
[identity profile] awanderingbard.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 11:54 am (UTC)
Um. I love you. This is perfect stuff! You know what's funny? My mental PB for Forrester is Clive Owen, and he did all those BMW mini-movies.

Now that I have names I can research them to see what else I could use to describe them, but if I need anything else, I'll be sure to ask. Thanks bunches!
[identity profile] draickinphoenix.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 01:48 pm (UTC)
You're welcome, and I love you too. :)

[identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 11th, 2009 11:42 pm (UTC)
Toyota Corolla for Miranda to have bought. fuel efficient, or at least not bad on that front, and it baby seat fits nicely in the back, as well as baby seat+toddler car seat.

Ramirez- something older- 70's or before car which would get terrible gas mileage, but wouldn't have all the technical crap that modern stuff does

no idea about Forrester, sorry
[identity profile] awanderingbard.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 11:55 am (UTC)
Hehe, you and [livejournal.com profile] draickinphoenix said the same thing for Miranda and Ramirez. That must be a sign that those are exactly the right cars. Thanks bunches for replying!
[identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 03:39 pm (UTC)
*hee* I guess we're right then!

As a random aside about the Corolla, they are one of the most common rental cars so a lot of dealerships have deals in place where they will sell the rental place new toyotas and get the old ones to sell as used cars. Usually every big city has at least one dealership that'll have a bunch of corollas (and camrys and minivans etc) that are only 1 year old (or even less), but have 30k miles on them and they'll sell for a chunk off the sticker price as opposed to buying a new car
[identity profile] joonscribble.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 07:27 pm (UTC)
I'm totally useless on the car front, but let me just say that I'm sort of in love with how wonderfully detailed you are with your stories. It never even occurs to me I should consider what sort of car my OCs drive.
[identity profile] awanderingbard.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 10:20 pm (UTC)
Heh. I don't even know if I'll ever go into much detail about them, but I know so little about cars, that I thought I should at least get suggestions before I put them in something that didn't work for the character. I'm currently building up a fic for Forrester where he's the POV, so I'm trying to piece his life together before I start. Backstory is an unhealthy obsession of mine. ;-)
[identity profile] joonscribble.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 10:22 pm (UTC)
Backstory is an unhealthy obsession of mine. ;-)

Mine too. So much so that I'm about to do an OC fic JUST to satisfy my Backstory Elf.
[identity profile] priscellie.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 10:01 pm (UTC)
WORD on the 50's/60's/70's muscle car for Ramirez. He is such a peacock. :D
[identity profile] awanderingbard.livejournal.com wrote:
Jan. 12th, 2009 10:22 pm (UTC)
Hehe, I know! He is. I was thinking something like that, but my car knowledge wasn't good enough to know the names of those cars to be looking for. My brother is a car nut and I think I have, as a consquence, refused to care about them.