MY son has a newer Ford Focus and he absolutely loves the car. Has had no problems, drives nice and smooth, peppy when it needs to be and 40+ MPG.
Beyond that the Hyundai Elantra is one of the best and most reliable.
Honda Civic is another very good vehicle, and if you are looking slightly bigger you can’t go wrong with a Honda Accord. We have had 5 Accord’s over the years and all have run excellently, have lasted well into the 200,000 mile range, and get good gas mileage.
Also have heard very good things from people I know that swear by the Toyota Camry. I have driven a couple as rental vehicles when traveling for work, and was nicely impressed with the vehicles.
The biggest ones to stay away from in my Opinion - GOVT Motors and Dodge.
I did some research on the newer Ford Focus becuse it is one of the ones I’m seriously looking at. Apparently the technology behind the transaxle is so sophisticated that BMW owners are buying the same basic design as an after market performance enhancer. It’s considered the next best thing to all wheel drive.