When I was going to buy a new car, I also weighed all pros and cons between XLi and City and finally settled for XLi because it is much more graceful than the short-nosed city. People now prefer the older city which was not a successful model, so imagine the popularity of new city. Though city may be better at fuel consumption, its parts are very expensive compared to Corolla, plus Honda's are very delicate cars that's why you hardly see any old honda in good condition as they start withering away from the day one.