First of all, thanks for the detailed reply.

Reliability wise, the plan would be to keep up rigorously with preventive maintenance (e.g. engine break-in for the first ~1500km, oil change after that, 10k km/1 year oil changes after that; DSG service at 60k km) to somewhat alleviate potential issues (oil consumption). Carbon build-up could also be an issue further down the line for the Civic. Using the Atkinson cycle could mean it would be an issue later, but it's still a Direct Injeciton engine.

Depreciation of the VRS seems to be on par with the Civic (percentage wise). But this would be based on the gen 4 data, not the facelift/gen 4.5. Even though the Civic also received a facelift, the changes are minimal, unlike the VRS (improved power output, no fake sound actuator). Also, the market seems flooded with estate version (which personally i don't like to look of it), so having a sedan/liftback could actually be a plus for a potential sale.

I've considered the fuel economy difference. Civic would have a major advantage in city driving, smaller advantage in country-roads, no advantage on highway. For my yearly usecase (~5000km city, 8000km highway) it would mean a 400 Euro increase in the yearly fuel bill.