>>>1. Car had head work done at ~135k. I'm guessing this was the head gasket. Common at this mileage?

I hope not! I have 143K on my car.

>>>2. The rep. told me that the owner had declined several A/C repairs. I'm worried that this might be the dreaded W124 evaporator problem. Thoughts?

Well I guess the question is if the A/C works now and which repairs were turned down. Remember you are talking to a dealer rep. They always have an interest in doing more work to cars.

>>> 3. Rep. also indicated that the blower motor was on its last legs - don't know if that was replaced or not. A big deal ... how much $$$$ ?

Who knows what this means? I would test it myself. Maybe the blower just makes some noise that you can live with vs. an expensive dealer repair.

>>>4. The rep. did not indicate that any suspension work had been done on the car. At 139k, what can I expect suspension-wise? Am I OK for awhile yet, or will shocks and struts need attention soon?

I did shocks/struts/alighnment at 100K or so. Cost $1000 for P/L and alignment. It might not have been time to do this work, but I figured what the heck. Car did drive better afterwards.

I did control arm bushings, rear suspension links, alignment, ball joints at 135K. The bushings where shot all of the way around, this work needed to be done. Cost me $1800 for P/L. Combined with the shocks/struts the car drives/handles as the day I bought it or better. The car loves to cruise the highway at 3000RPMs, plenty of power at that speed to for highway driving.

I did the front/rear brakes at 120K. I did rotors/pads/calipers all the way around. Cost me $1200 P/L (which I thought was good considering the price of the front calipers).

>>> Other than that, it looks like a great car. The dealer is asking $8,950 for it.

I'm sure it is nice, but with some expensive work possibly on the horizon it might be better to look for one where the work has already been done. Best thing to do would be to get a pre-purchase inspection outside of the dealership to see what needs to be addressed in the near future.

>>> Also, what is the maintenance interval for these vehicles? Oil changes every 7.5k, and major service schedules every 15k??

I'm a nut and change my oil every 3000 miles. I use dino oil rather than synthetic. What is the major service every 15K?

I think next I am going to have my mechanic check for "timing chain stretch." I have not replaced the glow plugs in this car. I did however recently have to have some leaking fuel lines addressed.