To me, an Appliance Car is, well its NOT a Hyundai Sonata or Excel, or a Honda Accord ( even though its not such a bad car!) or even a Lexus. You use them for 100K and unload them, just like your refrigerator or TV and you don't bother to wax it, talk to it or even maintain it.
A Non Appliance Car is a car of distinction, a machine of character, like the Mercedes 240D, 300D and Volvo 240 and SAAB 9000, all cars I was introduced to here.
They are cars you keep on the road for a half million miles and are your prize possessions. You talk to them, sneak out of work and risk your job to find parts for them and even weld and paint them when they rust...You honk at another driver of one when you pass them and they honk back... Could you imagine repainting your Excel when it rusted? Could you imagine honking at a fellow Hyundai Excel driver or Honda Accord driver?
If they made the 240D and 300D in 1980 and the Volvo 240 up to 1990 and the SAAB 9000 in 1995, there must be something out there of 2000 vintage that I could start to dream about owning...in about five more years when i could afford one...