Honda Civic 1.5T in Canadian Winters

Hi all,

I'm shopping for a new to me car. My top choices are currently between a '17 civic coupe with the 1.5t manual and a 2018 Mazda 3 with the 2.5 . I think I prefer the civic but I am a little worried about the turbo engine. I feel like I would be the worse case scenario driver since my commute to work is about 10 minutes (3.6km) in souther Ontario. Winters are not too cold but my commute to work is so short it's got me worried about the oil dilution I keep reading about. Is this something that I can manage by changing the oil more ofter ( say every 3 months regardless of distance)? Also I see that the 17 coupe is not included in the extended warranty for the ac, does that mean it's something that I shouldn't have to worry about or just that I am SOL if I have issues with it?

Finally I never drove stick shift, I know the basics from sim racing on Assetto Corsa & iRacing and real world practice on a 2002 Daewoo Matiz about 14 years ago, would it be realistic to pick up the car in the afternoon and drive to work the next day after a few hours of practice?

thanks.