I had the Caldina vs. Stagea vs. Legnum decision months and months ago.. I drove the ST215, the C34, and the EC5W just to get a feel of how I really liked them all..
My personal opinion.. Looks (IMO): EC5W > C34 > ST215 Standard(ish) performance: EC5W > ST215 > C34 Running costs: How would I know I only test drove them lol..
Caldina - Looks didnt reallly do it for me and I didnt feel comfortable with the interior of the ST215, felt a little to small for my liking. That being say it did drive quite well (as mention'd above 3k rpm) also being lighter helped make it quite sporty
Stagea - I loved the aftermarket avalibility of the RB25 series engine's, performance was pretty good but the other's definately feel more sporty, due to the Stag's size, and personally looks were average.. Once you start adding modifications it transforms the whols car. Legnum - I like the look of this car the best, and the performance was simply amazing from the responsive twin TD03's couple that with the AWD AYC system and it bends the laws of physics when handling, These have always had a reputation of being hard to work on and hard to find parts for. In the end I keep all my options open and decided on purchasing the best car at the time regardless of make/model.. Needless to say I found a Legnum EC5W VR4 with ASC, TC, AYC, leather interior, sunroof, aftermarket rims, exhaust, for the right price with only 68xxx klms.. so I snapped it up. It should be noted that I do 90% of the work on my own car as I dont trust many people to muck around with it, as far as parts go I've never had any trouble sourcing any part (i.e. filters/fluids/etc) thus far.. with the Internet and search you can find anything!
I find it really not that hard to work on either, yes certian jobs can be a pain and time consuming (i.e. AYC fluid change, bleed and refill). I run her at 1.0bar (14.5psi) via Mine's tuned ECU and she doesnt miss a beat, I personally have never had any major mechanical drama's even with the 5 speed tip tronic (INVECS-II porsche engineered) gearbox just slapped on a transmission cooler myself and I change fluid at regular service intervals, no problems! I understand this is a highly personal choice and we all enjoy different things and have different goals.. but that's my story and my $0.02.. **edit - oh and I only paid $6200 for the car on purchase, yeah he wanted $8500 lol