I drive the Mazda Protege 5 and its an awesome car! Treats me well and I haven't had any problems... then again it is a 2003. I talked to Mazda though because I need a bigger car, and they said for selling Mazdas hold their value just as well as Honda's. Mazdas are extremely reliable, and they're resale value is great. The only reason I'm selling mine is because I need something bigger for cross country driving, and I'm getting the Honda CRV... which is also an amazing car. I was going to get a used one, but it costs the exact same as the new ones. So when it gets down to it, the Japanese make GREAT cars... they last and they're reliable, so I'd say test drive them and see which one you like better. Look at consumer reports also to help make your decision.