Well, I ended up going for the Golf over the Mazda 3 hatch, but it was close. One of the things that really matters to me a lot is visibility out of the car, and I really felt a bit claustrophobic with the small back window of the Mazda (viewing area is close to 50% lower than the Golf, and of my old car). As for reliability, I'll see how it goes over the next 6 years/72000 miles; could always bail out before the warranty period ends. I do like how the car drives; it was the best of any models I had been considering.