My wife has a Mazda 6. Maintenance-wise I don't like it a whole lot. I don't mean that it breaks down, because it's very reliable. I mean that you have to take the bumper off to change the headlights. Routine maintenance is inconvenient. Oil changes aren't bad though once you figure out the cartridge type filter vs the cannister type. It doesn't have much zoom zoom, I don't care what the commercials say.
I drive a Subaru WRX. I can't say enough about it. It has plenty of giddyup and go. It is extremely easy to work on. I have 168,000 miles on it (it's an 03) and it has never not started or broken down. I do the maintenance myself. For the price you are looking at, you should be able to find a nice 2007 model. I would stay away from the 2008, because that year wasn't a good year for them. Just my $0.02.