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I have a 83 300D that has spent all but two of its years in Vermont, where it is quite salty in the winter. It definitely has rust, but you can tell that the PO chased it down whenever it popped up by using touch up paint. As a result the body looks pretty decent.
The more troublesome areas are those that you can't see while standing up, but preventative measures can make the car last a long time. I have seen a lot of this cars that are totally rusted out and they all rust in the same places.
Here's my treatment:
1.Remove the rubber liners under the fenders that are supposed to keep the dirt out.
2. Spray out through the drains where the hood hinge areas. Make sure that this area is always free of leaves, dirt, etc.
3. Continue to spray downward from under the fender toward where the panel is bolted to the body just in front of the door. Use a lot of water, and let dry.
4. Repeat procedure for rear wheel wells.
5. Remove any loose undercoating from these areas and from under the car using a blowtorch (careful!) and a scraper.
6. Buy an undercoating gun and apply chainsaw bar oil liberally to all of these areas. Spray a lot in the trailing arm rust cup where the rear shock attaches. Also coat around the door gasket and under the plastic door sill.
7. When you wash the car, pay particular attention to flushing out from behind the moldings and rubber trim.
8. Make sure none of the windows are leaking and allowing water to get into the cabin
9. While you may not want to, I also spray oil on the entire exterior of the car below the trim line and then go on a long ride on a dusty dirt road to cover the oil.
The idea here is that in my experience is is not so much the salt (which washes off easily) that will rust the vehicle, but the sand that the road crews usually mix it with. The sand builds up and traps moisture which causes rust. So pay particular attention to wherever sand might accumulate.
I am of the belief that washing you car in the winter -in a severe environment like Vermont or the Upper Midwest -is the WORST thing you can do as is puts moisture in strange places where it combines with trapped road sand and salt. Better to wait until the spring when you can really flush it out and let it dry. Also, try to drive the car in as many torrential rainstorms as possible to wash the underside of the car.
I make a day each fall to oil my rigs and each spring to wash them out as well a regular washing and waxing throughout the summer, dealing with the rust as it occurs.
No car will last forever in a salt environment, but you can help it last a long time.
Drive your car and enjoy it.
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