I absolutely agree. It really is a question of risk - the lower the mileage, the less the risk. How it really turns out is anyone's guess. I bought my 83 280SL with 91k on it. I decided to buy it because I got to know the owner, who was a retired pilot, well enough to know the car had been maintained like an airplane, lots of preventive and and scheduled maintenance, and that and the cost savings justified the risk. 8,000 miles later I still have not had a single problem other than some worn throttle bushings that cost about 20 bucks to replace. If I was buying one I couldn't get that kind of information on, I would want lower mileage to lower the risk in owning it.

I also think how much you work on your own car plays in as well. The more confidence you have in your own mechanical abilities, the less risk in owning a high mileage car as well.

In addition, experience really helps. I'm 50 years old and have been buying and driving MBs since I was 30, and as part of the hobby got to know many other drivers as well. Over that time I have found that you can buy an taken-care of MB gasser built between 1977-1990 with around 90k and expect to have only minor trouble up to about 190,000 miles. At that point the car becomes about as risky to drive as a typical American car of that vintage with around 100,000 miles, and things start to break. So I give it to my kid, of which I am blessed with five. They will drive the car to about 250,000 and during this time you will have to rescue them a few times. At 250,000, you sell it to the junk dealer. The junk dealer will either make a killing on the car selling the parts, or will put a new set of plug wires on it and give it to his kid, and you will see it on the streets some day and say "hey - thats my old car!".