These Are The Best 'Appliance' Cars

Toyota

Boring, appliance cars make the enthusiast world go round. Do you think Toyota would sell the GR Corolla, Honda would sell the Civic Type R or Subaru would sell the WRX if they didn't sell trillions of Camrys, CR-Vs and, Crosstreks, respectively, every year? We owe cars like these a debt of gratitude, and that idea is what led me to the question I asked you all last week.

I wanted to know what you all considered to be the best "appliance" car. What's the best vehicle in the world, when the only job is to get from Point-A to Point-B as efficiently and hassle-free as possible? I'm sure it won't be too much of a surprise that 7.5 out of the 11 vehicles on this list are from Japanese automakers or that Toyota represents four entrants on its own, but that's sort of what the brand is known for. 

In any case, how about you all head on down below and check out what your fellow Jalops consider to be the best appliance cars out there? Did your car make the list? If it did, there's no shame in that. It just means you're probably a bit more sensible than the rest of us.

Honda

Base model Civic. Yes, the entire point of the Civic's modern existence is that you can tinker with basically every element of it. But you don't have to, and there's a whole bunch of normal everyday people who manage to just drive the thing as is. And it's a Honda, so the engine always runs even when the frame around it inevitably disintegrates.

Submitted by: Wretched_Genius

Toyota

Toyota Corolla, it is a Toyota Corolla, do you need to hear more? No you don't.

Toyota. Corolla.

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Toyota Corolla. Easy. I commuted for 30 years. I'd buy a cheap commuter, run it up to 300,000 miles, and buy another one. Honda Civics are significantly more fun, but Corollas are a smidge softer and a smidge quieter.

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Corolla. One might be tempted to say Camry, but those have gotten surprisingly stylish and, dare I say, more fun to drive? Corollas are ubiquitous, uninspiring, and unsurprising. But they run without complaint or much maintenance forever.

Submitted by: JaredOfLondon & Rollerrobb & CarEsq

Subaru

Small hatchbacks are the Swiss Army knife cars, and the Subaru CrossTrek does more than most in that way. It's also not a terribly exciting car and won't be noticed parked anywhere unless you get it in orange or the blue with the Wilderness package.

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My car.

A 2026 Crosstrek Hybrid. Parallel hybrid with mechanical AWD. 360° camera, Eyesight and rear radar back up with brake assist.

One kid is in college, next year the other is going in and I don't own a dog. Enough space for two people and luggage, or with the seat down a trip to IKEA.

I've always liked small cars, I grew up in the 1970s. It does the job I need.

Submitted by: potbellyjoe & radioout

Toyota

A 2007 Toyota Prius is a great appliance. My partner has one and it's not nearly the soulless penalty box that I thought it might be. It's quite comfortable from the passenger seat, and the few times I drove it (including a 2-hour drive through the mountains) it proved to be a comfortable cruiser and surprisingly decent through some of the curves. It's not fast, and I need stay out of the passing lane, but it has a large amount of room inside and the fact that she sometimes goes weeks without going to the gas station is pretty awesome.

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I know everyone is saying RAV4 or Corolla, but I feel like the 2-4th gen Prius are the exact definition of appliance.

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Been calling my RAV4 the outdoor appliance on wheels.

Mine got a regular gas engine and gets about 37 mpg on the highway, about 27 in town. I didn't go hybrid with that tech being trick to diagnose and probably costly to fix.

Plus wanted something that looked little nicer so picked the adventure trim as it looked way better than other designs from 2024 era models.

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The Prius. But not the new one, the old boring one.

I can bet that any bad experience you've ever had in one was a rental. Would you judge any car by it's rental version? We had a BMW rental recently that made us think, "yeah, this is not as good as the outback."

The prius is a masterpiece of efficiency. not just gas efficiency but efficiency of space- they are HUGE on the inside and surprisingly comfortable. They last forever which is amazing when you consider just how complicated they are. They will teach you to be a better driver. You will learn how not to do fast starts from lights and how to be more consistent.

Also, we make fun of cars as appliances but ask yourself: do I want an exciting refrigerator? One that breaks down often and it's really cool that it can blast freeze a whole chicken in like 30 seconds, but how often do I really need to do that? What you want is something that just works and that you do not have to think about, that does its job and never complains. And that's the prius. You say boring, I say oh thank god.

Submitted by: LarriveeC05 & SilenceCabose & 2cents & Buckfiddious

Dacia

Big enough to seat seven, or carry lots of stuff. Small enough to drive in a town designed before cars. Rugged. Supposedly reliable. Just enough equipment to meet (European) legal requirements and not a lot more.

Submitted by: Neil Hall

Ford

Ford Maverick. Small (enough), spacious (enough), good fuel economy as a hybrid, decent ride, and all the truck the vast majority of people would ever need.

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A Tool is a device designed to do one job well, an Appliance is a device designed to make routine tasks easier (think air-fryer, washer/dryer combo, smartphone). Therefore, my submission submitted for your approval would be a Swiss Army Knife of a vehicle,

the Ford Maverick hybrid – room for 5, usable bed in back, decent fuel economy, and it will fit in a garage.

Submitted by: RmB & Radar Lover Gone

Toyota

Toyota Rav4. They sell an insane number of those, and there's a reason for it. Moves you and your stuff from A to B, reliably, in decent comfort, and at a reasonable price.

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The RAV4 is an emotionless mode of transportation that does its job well with no (or very few) annoying idiosyncrasies. It isn't super fast. It isn't super slow. It isn't sexy. It isn't ugly. It doesn't stand out in a crowd. Bland, flavorless, comfortable, functional, and useful. Perfect car for your teenager going off to college. Perform regular maintenance and they just keep on RAV4-ing along for hundreds of thousands of miles without issues. I have owned (and still own) several of them for my kids those reasons. However, I will never drive one as my daily for those same reasons.

Submitted by: JustSomeGuyYouKnow & Old_SLAAB_Guy

Honda

My wife's 2004 Honda CRV is THE perfect appliance car. Still runs like a champ, has a folding table as the back floor, a drain plug that lets you use the back well as a cooler besides storage, fits a washer or dryer from a Costco run, fits 8' 2x4s from a Lowe's trip with the back window up, transports our family of four everywhere, and doesn't cost a fortune to fill up.

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Honda CR-V. Basic, well-appointed, family hauler. It swallows people and packages. You can take it camping or skiing. It's sure-footed with Honda's great AWD system. Plus, reliability is through the roof. It's like having Grandma's mixing bowl. Safe, comfortable, dependable... kinda beige.

Submitted by: James' Journey & JohnnyWasASchoolBoy

Kia

The room of an SUV or small minivan, run of the mill brakes, powertrain, and suspension sourced from the sedans of the Hyundai/Kia lineup, storage everywhere (SO MUCH STORAGE), and all in a delightfully generic package that passes for virtually anything else from a distance.

The interior plastics are the hard and durable kind, the seat cloth and carpet are basic and likewise durable (and surprisingly stain resistant), and the comfort, while not exceptional, is perfectly acceptable, even on long drives.

Submitted by: MustangIIMatt

Chrysler

It's the minivan. Any minivan, it doesn't matter. Seating for up to 8, can transport full sheets of plywood flat. They can literally do anything you might need a car to do while being comfortable and in absolutely no way exciting. And now with so many being hybrids, you can get better than 30 mpg doing it.

Submitted by: SnakeJG

Toyota

Toyota Camry, midsize 4-door with great build quality, efficiency, and reliability.

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The current gen Camry is all anyone needs in a car. It is affordable, spacious, reliable, holds value well, achieves excellent fuel economy (>50 mpg), and respectably swift. Hell, it's fuel costs are on par with charging an EV at home, even with high gas prices (at least in NY where my rates are at...

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I had a Toyota Camry as a weeks-long rental and I have to say it was pretty good. With the hybrid drivetrain it got very good mileage and it handled well.

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Obvious answer is the Camry. Reasonably priced, dead nuts reliable, comfortable, safe, efficient, everything you could want in "an car".

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Pretty sure 'Camry' translates to 'nondescript Maytag' in 25 languages.

Submitted by: Psucho78 & ExParrot89 & DieselWagonGoon & Stillnotatony & jude duval & several others