I seriously considered the Honda Fit because it's quite large inside. And it's a Honda, which means reliable, reliable, reliable. The mileage is quite good, although not as good as the same car gets in Japan, for some reason (hot topic on the Honda Fit forums).

I love my VW Rabbit, but I wish it came in a diesel. Diesels get much better mileage than gas cars, and there are several biodiesel stations in my area. My Rabbit carries one bike, wheel off, with the seats folded down. I have a rear rack for when I need to carry more bikes. I chose the Rabbit because it had extras like seat heaters and blinkers on the side mirrors, and it's just damn fun to drive (5 speed, yeah). And it's cute, and relatively inexpensive at $17k.

Toyota Matrix was also on my list--lots of room, Toyota reliability, good mileage, good price.

For a pricier vehicle, the Volvo XC-70 is awfully nice. It gets about 25-27 mph