We just got a 2010 Hyundai Accent. I thought it would be too small (I'm 6'1" and we've got one kid) but I really like it. It was ~$6K. We also have an 09 Corolla, which you could probably get for about the same price. Personally, I've been underwhelmed by the reliability of the Corolla. We bought it (too new) in 2012, and I feel like we spent more maintaining it (ie several $3-600 repairs) than my wife's 1999 Ford Explorer Sport. Admittedly we drove it more, but we didn't drive it that much.
Still, since we'd paid the "Toyota premium" for purported higher reliability, it was a bit disappointing. Moving forward, I don't think we'd bother. In addition to the Accent, we also looked at the Ford Focus.