Whether to buy a used Corolla XLI or a Honda City?[U]
Mileage
[/U]City is slightly better in local driving than Corolla e.g. if corolla is giving 11km/l than city may give upto 12km/l so slightly better. If you use a light foot, you can get good mileage out of XLI too. In Highly driving, there seems to be little difference depending on your max speed. Keep it below 110km/hr and both give good mileage (15-16 km/l).
Ride Quality
Corolla is much better on rough roads with bumps as is typical in Pakistan. City is also good but only on very smooth roads. Any bump or pothole will be felt hard by passengers, particularly rear seat occupants. Also XLI seats are more comfortable than City.
Build Quality
City uses poor cheap quality plastic in dashboard. Corolla itself is not luxury but much better than city both in layout/color and plastic quality. Also after some time (if you drive on bumpy roads for a couple of years) Corolla will make less squeaky noises than city.
Cabin Space
Corolla is larger in size and hence more comfortable. Front seats do not matter as even Cultus has enough front leg room but rear passengers (if you have them) will prefer than spacious XLI over City. XLI is longer and wider than City.
Braking
City has smaller size and has ABS brakes so braking will be better. Not very noticeable in normal driving but ABS comes in handy on wet surfaces and if trying to steer while braking, particularly if you are a novice driver. Experienced drivers know not to brake hard continuously if surface is wet (as car might slip) but you never know in a panic situation. If this is a concern and you want Corolla, GLI also offers ABS brakes so for that instead of XLI.
Parts/Maintenance
Genuine parts are expensive for both XLI and City and are way costlier than, say, a Suzuki. However, build quality of both is better than Suzuki so you require them less often. Between them, XLI parts are slightly cheaper than City parts. Also you'll get Corolla (XLI/GLI) parts in every town while City (and Honda in general) parts are less commonly available in smaller towns. If you live in a city and drive mostly there, shouldn't be a problem. If you live or travel to smaller towns, go for XLI/GLI.
Equipment
The one thing you'll visibly miss in an XLI is power windows. If you're buying a used XLI, chances (almost 80-90%) are the first owner will have installed power windows and call it "converted to GLI" so you're spared from this drawback.
Resale Value
XLI will sell like hot cakes while City will also sell but slower than XLI. In terms of price, a used XLI will fetch you more (50-100K) money than a city of same model and original price.
Safety
In terms of crash safety, Corolla boosts a GOA body with crumble zone that occupy its occupants. City also is not bad in crash rating. Both only offers standard seatbelts and no airbags. In terms of keeping the car, Corolla XLI is more prone to getting stolen. Thats not to say a City won't be stolen but XLI has a higher probability. Use reasonable security features like park inside your porch with locked doors, avoid parking in high hit areas (where people are known to be away from their cars for long time), use steering locks, etc. basically anything that can deter a would-be thief to go for some easier car rather than yours that has some hurdles.