I had a brief relationship with a '99 Outback last summer after I played Nascar with the 190D. Had bad wheel bearings (real bad) on right side when I got it. Also had a transmission slowly going bad. Had already had timing belt replaced and head gasket done.Thought I was good. Unfortunately somebody failed to replace water pump while they were in there so after a couple of months, water pump lunched and took head gasket with it. Sold it to somebody who had parts to fix it and I never looked back. And I will never buy another one as long as I live. I could not believe the rust on suspension parts. Somebody had cracked the steering knuckle on the right and there was a ton of rust on it. Enough that knocking off the loose rust it lost a good 1/16th to 1/8th of thickness of the metal and it really didn't have that must to lose.
We were trying to come up with a name for the car. Tried a couple of names but the one that stuck for me was the Knot, as in NOT a Mercedes. Every time I drove it it reminded me it was not an MB. No MB handling, no MB brakes, no MB ride, no MB engine...the list just went on and on.