Of course, it depends on your taste/needs, but I second the vote for the Suzuki Aerio. I'm a believer in tall station wagons. My first car was a 1986 Nissan Stanza (the one with the sliding doors and no B pillar), which has been passed on now to a new owner but is still running like a charm and never ailed anything except a couple of cracked (due to age) wires and two worn-out alternators. Our all-time best was a 1983 Toyota Tercel wagon that we kept for 16 years; it had over 250,000 miles on it when we gave it to VOA and never stalled, hesitated, or was slow to start in its life.

I got a Pontiac Vibe last year; yes it's a dumb name, but I really like the car. Except for the body panels and seat padding, it's the same car as a Toyota Matrix (which is the RAV4's little sister). It's basically a Corolla hatchback. The seats fold down flat so I can get an 8-foot ladder into it (or sleep in it) if I have to, it's about the same length as my dad's 1974 VW bug so I can fit into any tight city parking space, it gets good gas mileage (30/35), is comfortable (upright seating position--my lower back gives me grief if I sit with my legs in fron of me for too long), and it doesn't feel quite as sluggish as a PT Cruiser.