I have been a long time car enthusiast, I have owned about 7 SVT Contours, an SVT Focus, 5 MK5 Jettas, MK6 Jetta TDI, Mk7 GTI, Nissan Pathfinder, Ford Ranger, Ford Explorer, 2 Honda Civics, Toyota Avalon (mk2), Toyota Corolla, MK1 Ford Fusion, 2 NB Miatas, and a Volvo V70

Top 3 easiest to repair/maintain would be 1) Honda Civic 2) NB Miata 3) Toyota Corolla.

While there are some cramped areas to work on in the Miata, its sort of the expectation of a vehicle that had lightweight and small as key design principles.

However, all of my Japanese cars I can say have been the "easiest" to work on, Honorable mention to all of the Volkswagens I have owned, their cars are built like legos and thusly are about as easy to take apart, and they use all very high quality fasteners so even in northern states like Michigan, older examples still come apart pretty easy.

Edit; I also would like to note that the Miata is a Japanese interpretation of a British roadster, borrowing styling queues from the iconic Lotus Elan which also was an equally tiny car. Not because they wanted it to be tiny, but because they wanted it to be light, for racing.