I went through basically the same car choices as 04M3S (Corolla S, Civic EX, SE-R, and Altima). Altima was eliminated early because of costs, SE-R was just too small and felt cheap, and my girlfriend has a Civic EX along with everyone else in the world. I also eliminated the Civic EX because the Corolla S had the same or better options, numbers, etc at basically the same price point. I was actually going to go pay for the Corolla S tomorrow, but then saw someone on a Corolla message board complaining about a couple things and saying they were going to trade in for a Mazda3. This was on Saturday morning and I went to check it out in the afternoon and fell in love with the interior and exterior design. Although the interiors were different in both cars, they impressed me somewhat equally. It might be that the interior is so new to me, but I'm definitely not used to the location of everything yet. As far as exterior, I hated the S! It looks like the car has a 12" lift and has 5" wheels to go with it. Overall cheesy. And even with the S body kit, the car looks too high off the road. And I also hate spoilers. After spending about 10-15 hours researching the Mazda3, I decided it was a wise decision to spend an extra $500 above the Corolla S and get the Mazda3 S. After negotiating for a couple days, I went and paid for the car tonight (Tuesday). For roughly $500 more, the M3S KILLS the Corolla in just about every way. Mazda as a company is much easier to deal with also. Toyota's college incentive requires you to finance while Mazda just asks that you prove you're graduating within 2 years from a 4 year school (or some other options).
Enough of that long winded story!