The Civic will be a much better car. sportier and more reliable. Toyota makes a very good car when you are in the Camry class, their base car, Corolla has never gotten reviews as good as has Honda.You don't say what year you are looking at. Truth be told, for a first car, a used American Sedan is usually a much better deal and since it's bigger, safer too. I happen to like 4-5 year old Taurus's or Sables.With cars, the general rule is "Buying New - Japanse, Buying Used - American" for best deal.Astrobuf