My son has a 2001 Hyundai Accent. It gets like 30-40 mpg and with the back down, you can easily fit a bike or 2 in there (it's a hatch back). He had to rescue my other son all the time when he would get flats and be unprepared when he first started riding. Hyundai is a very nice company that treats its customers well, even if the car they have is a cheaper one.
I guess I'm pragmatic about gas prices. We still pay way less than in other countries. My car gets 19-25 mpg and I'm fine with it. I just don't drive much, except to go to work and most errands are done on the way home. My husband has an SUV (don't shoot me) that we love. It's one of the ones you all make fun of, so I won't say which one. But, we can carry 4 bikes and our canoe (with a bike rack). We also do all of the pick up and delivery of home improvement stuff ourselves. Both of our cars are all wheel drive, which I would not be without here; wouldn't be able to get up our street without it. We want to keep the SUV forever, but not drive it so much, so my husband got a 2 seat sporty car to drive when it's not snowing or we're not out doing some sports stuff. It gets much better mileage and looks cool.