A very reliable, high quality 'economy' vehicle

I own a 2002 Honda Civic EX 2 door with which I have driven about 40,000 miles. It gets incredibly good gas mileage (I get 36-38 mpg driving mostly freeway)and I have had no mechanical problems with it whatsoever. It has reasonable acceleration, is fun to drive (I chose the 5 speed manual transmission), is fairly good in snow, corners/handles great, and has an above average sound system. The high revving engine is peppy, if not particularly 'torquey', and the shifter has a very short throw, making split second shifting very natural. Also, the trunk seems huge for a car in this size class, plus the rear seats fold down and the passenger seat can be fully reclined, making it possible to haul 10' long lumber.
The list of 'bad' things about the car is all pretty much trivial stuff: The engine is a little loud when you get over 3000 RPM, The headroom is just adequate for me (I'm 5'-10" tall), the back seats don't have enough legroom for an adult, the oil filter is located in a place that makes 'do-it-yourself' oil changes discouraging and messy, and the O.E. tires wore out in only 28,000 miles. Realistically, these are all pretty minor complaints, and the size/space issues come with the trade of of nearly getting nearly 40 MPG.
Overall, the car is a terrific value when you look at the competition; the only other car that comes close in my view is the Corolla. My sister has a Pontiac Sunfire she paid $500 less than I paid for my Civic, and she has taken it back to the dealer 5 or 6 times with serious problems (locks that freeze up in the winter, paint that flakes off, troubling noises in the transmission, etc.) When she tried to trade it in, she found out just how bad a Sunfire depreciates in its first 2 years. Hondas hold their value better than most 'equivalent' cars.