Best bang for your buck on reliability?

I'm ooking into buying a used vehicle; I don't need anything fancy, and am looking for compact, economical, and reliable.

Sadly, so is everyone else!

Top of my list is a Toyota Corolla, but on the used market, they're ridiculous due to their popularity. I've also been considering Mazda 3 or a civic, but I'm looking around to see if there's any lesser-known gems out there which meet my criteria, but don't have an inflated price on the used market. Most of all, I want the biggest bang for my buck.

I'll take any advice offered.