Surprised no one here said anything about a hybrid? Then again, I did just glance through the comments.
If you do get a hybrid, steer clear of the Hondas. Their cars are generally known for rock solid reliability, but for some reason they can't seem to get the batteries right in their hybrid vehicles. And batteries in hybrids cost $$$$$ to replace.
Better to stick with the Prius or another Toyota model if buying hybrid.
I personally don't think you can go wrong with the regular Honda Civic, Subaru Impreza, Mazda3, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra. Perhaps in that order.
The Subaru is Consumer Reports top pick in this category, and it's excellent in terms of safety and residual value. It also has features like Bluetooth and all wheel drive standard. Gas mileage is good, but the all wheel drive makes it less than if could be, and a little less than the rest of the cars on my list in general. And it also makes some things more expensive/complicated in terms of maintenance. For example, you must replace all 4 tires together on a subaru vehicle. If one or more tires is a different circumference because it's more (or less) worn than the rest, it can put strain on the all wheel drive system and cause damage. Still, they are excellent vehicles and if it were me, that's probably the car I'd buy.
The Honda is always an instant classic, and you don't have to worry much about reliability. You'll probably drive it till 175,000 miles without having to do much but basic maintenance. And they get great gas mileage. Residual value is generally good with these cars too. One potential negative is that Hondas are among the most sought after cars for car theif's.
The Mazda3 is also an excellent car, I had one of them a decade or so ago. Think of it like a little sports car, but one that gets great gas mileage and is extremely reliable. These cars are seriously fun to drive. It would probably be my second choice in this group personally.
The Toyota is a lot like the civic, with a similar fuel economy and reliability profile. Main difference is that there aren't a lot of teenagers souping up Corollas so the chances of your car being a target for theft are smaller than with a Civic.
Hyundai Elantra. Not long ago I wouldn't have recommended this car. Hyundai is only recently (within the last few years) making cars of decent quality. But they do an excellent job now and their cars are very affordable. Their business model is to pack as many features into the car as possible while still being able to sell it for a similar price to the competing makes. My Mother just bought an elantra, a 2013 model but it was brand new (still left on the lot). It had bluetooth, heated seats, satellite radio, and a sporty styling with 16" alloy wheels. She got it for $15,800; a seriously good deal, but it would only have been around $17K in 2013 which is less than a similarly equipped car from one of the other manufacturers. All hyundai's come with an above average warranty (60K bumper to bumper, 100K powertrain).
Nissan. I've owned nissans and always had excellent luck. And the sentra seems like a nice car. It get great fuel economy (maybe the best of all the cars I'm listing). And it has a conservative styling that I kind of like. But predicted reliability isn't that high. It's not bad, but it's not as high as the rest. My mom looked at one of these before ultimately going with the Hyundai. My sister has a 2006 Sentra though, and it's held up admirably considering that she neither knows, nor cares, about maintaining he thing. I've never had major issues with Nissan and I find their factory tech's to be the best I've dealt with. They even fixed a power window under warranty when my warranty was ~10k miles expired (they told me it was probably starting to fail when my warranty was in force).
As you can tell, I've been in the market recently. So I figured I could share my research with you.
The only thing I can tell you about waiting vs. Buying now is that there are some excellent deals to be had at the moment. Most makes are getting ready for their 2015 models, which means there's a huge push to get the 2014's (and any 2013's) off the lot. If you're extremely firm on price, and you negotiate hard, you can walk out with a very good deal. You could save yourself a few thousand dollars quite easily right now.
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...Talk about shooting fish in a barrel when it comes to getting the ladies when a "soon to be doctor" comes rolling in on those four wheels!!!
