So how's the 3 reliability? I'm thinking about a 2016 2.5L manual 5door (grand touring?)
I keep cars till they fall apart and I'm very disappointed that my mini is falling apart at only 10yr 110,000 mi. I was really wanting at least 200k.

I don't have a high opinion of Mazda reliability however every bad example I can think of, Ford pops up as being involved. Eg my brothers Mx6 had the ford valve tick or the ford engine in my coworkers Mazda minivan had to be replaced...
It's my understanding the 3 is 100% Mazda now.

The 3 has all the toys but isn't quite as fun to drive as I hoped. I still want a wrx but price and mpg's are bad or the absolutely amazing Miata but it's sooooo small.

 

Modern Mazda's have very good reliability. Just make sure it gets fully serviced as per Mazda's specs on time/mileage.