Our 1999 OBW was a great car. Probably would have kept it except the 2000- cars are much nicer, especially the interiors. I did also prefer having the Phase 2 SOHC 2.5L which has far fewer head gasket problems and when it does, they're not the internal leaks of the Phase 1.
The best "cheap" one would be a 2.2L equipped Legacy as the little engine is super-duper tough and the 95's are CHEAP.