Ah yes, that too. I like the mpg on the gen2, but gen1 seems like a much less troubled car. Beyond that, the gen1 seems like a very solid well built car punching well above it's "economy car" persona.
Solid body structure, great suspension, and even at 170k miles the only rattle I have is from a plastic panel on the rear hatch which gets slammed down thousands of times in its life so I can give it some leeway.