Civic is not comparable with City or Xli or Gli or Swift. It is comparable with a sedan which is of a comparable size (body and engine) and of a comparable price range. And this makes it stand against only Corolla Altis Grande, which is quite close to Civic price-wise. For a person out in the market with a budget of upto Rs. 3 million, a 10% +/- won't bother him that much.
For any meaningful comparison, one must drive the car himself and get the feel of different aspects of each car, and only then compare his experiences. Comparison based on "my chacha bought altis, my neighbor bought civic, I heard, I sat in my friend's civic" is meaningless / useless.
This is precisely what I advise anyone asking me whether he should go for CZ Duty or CZ P01 for his carry weapon. Come to the range, try each of these two by shooting 20 rounds in each and then decide yourself.
Now, based on having actually driven both of these cars (over 500 km each and with stock OEM tyres/wheels), in different driving conditions (traffic jams and cruising), my experience is as follows:
1) EXTERIOR LOOKS: Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. Some like petite, some like it bulky, some like tall while some like'em short. Basically it depends on your personal preference. Me? I like Civic's sleeker front and relatively more balanced rear better than Corolla.
2) INTERIOR FEEL: When one is spending Rs. 2.5m to 3m on a vehicle, he expects to get a "premium" feel and experience while driving it. While we have all seen the interior of both these cars, in the premium feel factor department, Civic leads.
3) PRIDE OF OWNERSHIP: In my opinion, a Civic carries a higher Pride of Ownership factor as compared to Altis. Factors including uniqueness (not too many similar cars out there), the brand positioning and public segment which owns similar car (senior executives, higher income-bracket populace) are some of the factors which contribute towards this "Pride" of Ownership.
4) COMFORT: After having myself driven both these cars on bumpy and congested Karachi roads as well as smooth (Shara-e-Faisal) and signal free corridors, I found the Civic more comfortable to drive as compared to Altis.
5) COST OF MAINTENANCE: Altis is relatively cheaper to maintain. It's body and mechanical parts are cheaper to replace as compared to Civic.
6) EASE OF MAINTENANCE: Both Toyota and Honda have a vast network of 3S dealerships all over the country and therefore, both are easy to maintain from accessibility to trained technicians and equipped facilities point of view.
7) THEFT: Corolla and it's variants (xli, gli, altis) is the "favourite" among thieves/snatchers in our neck of the woods. On the other hand, Civic comes way down in the theft statistics of all major Pakistani cities after Mehran, Cultus, Alto, Swift and City. A casual visit to your nearest Police Station and chit chat with your SHO will reveal to you how much more is an Altis prone to be stolen / snatched as compared to a Civic. Insurance does cover the loss amount but not the khuaari and trauma. I know, because I had my 2009 GLi snatched on gun-point in May 2011. Ask yourself, do you want a car which is 50 times more likely to be stolen than it's competitor?
8) RESALE: The first car I purchased from my own money was a 1200km driven Santro Exec 2006 in same year and I still remember my father advising me that "beta iski resale nahi hay aur parts mehengay hain". Bought it for Rs. 425,000 and I still see this model/production year car selling around 400k mark easily. That particular Exec is still in the family, now with a third user, has clocked 125,000 kms on the dial and other than routine maintenance, battery and tyres changed, no work has been done on it. And even now there is no "khat khat thak thak" sound in that car. Now, this Santro Exec might not sell in the used cars market as fast as a same year production Cultus would sell, but considering the money and time I/we saved by opting for a car which was more reliable and durable as well as had better comfort/pleasure to drive, had better specs/features (power steering, power windows, better workmanship) as compared to cultus.... this is a feasible trade-off for me. Similar to the above, the edge Civic has over Altis in so many areas (highlighted above), adequately compensates for the marginal edge in "resale" factor which Corolla has over Civic.
Hope the above helps members in making good buying decision.