Hi Community,

I am in a bind here. I am 20 years old and My parents have agreed to buy me a car to use for 6 or more years or am able to buy and pay for my own car.

I've done a lot of research and this is what I've concluded:

Mazda3: hatchback version for practicality, utility, and design. reliable. unique and part of a minority car brand. more expensive to own for maintenance and repairs

Civic: costs just about the same. far cheaper to fix because of aftermarket parts. very common brand. just as reliable or maybe more.

So my question is this: which would you prefer and why?
please be as descriptive as possible and include resources from things like Edmunds or ConsumerReport if you need them. I'm also pretty savvy with mechanical jargon, so if there are things you must point out about the car in terms of performance, or design, please let me know too. If you have anecdotal evidence, I'd love to hear them. Also, subjectively, how do you view people who drive Mazda3 or Civic? My parents tell me that the Mazda3 looks like a toy and the Civic is more "sophisticated".

Thank you!