What are your thoughts about Mazda’s?

I’m looking to buy a small reliable car like a Corolla or a Civic. I keep reading Mazda’s don’t sell near as many but the Mazda3 is comparable. I know Toyota/honda is probably slightly better in most reliability areas.. but are they that much better? Would a Mazda3 be more expensive to fix. Would it last 200+ miles? I don’t hear a lot about Mazda..