Help with buying newer car

I am looking to buy a newer car and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I am looking for a four door, automatic, that gets good gas mileage, in the 2003-2006 range, with 150,000 miles or less. I've been looking at Toyota Corollas, Ford Tauruses, ford Focuses, Chevy Prisms, and Honda Civics. As I'm pretty new to car shopping I was wondering if anyone had any advice for me about these cars as far as reliability and maintenance costs. I am a young single mom and looking for something that is safe, not too bad on gas, reliable, and that isn't going to cost me an arm and a leg to have repaired when something goes wrong. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, are there other cars that you would suggest I look at? These are the cars that have been suggested to me so far, not exclusively what I'm focused on.

I would avoid the Ford Focus (hasn't had good reliability) and I'm almost positive Chevy Prisms will not fall into your range of years (as I recall, those models are MUCH older). I would avoid the new Chevy Cruze as they've had a number of recent recalls.

The Ford Taurus won't have anywhere near the gas mileage of a Corolla or Civic - but it is a good bit larger as well. If you want a larger Toyota sedan, you may want to consider the Avalon or Camry over the Corolla (but again they won't have the fuel economy). And if you want a larger Honda, you may look at the Accord.

Good luck in your searches, and keep us updated!

I have to second the comment about the Focus. My g/f has one she is still paying for. (She had it when I met her). It has been nothing but a hassle. Less than 80k miles and there are constant issues popping up!