A death sentence? Anything but.

However, it depends if things were replaced or if it was nursed to that age carefully.

If everything that needed doing was done, you'd get a great car. If everythign was left for dead, forget it; you're better off buying something else. The rest you'll have to research. If it checks out, it should be good for a long while. One of the best cars I bought was a 240GL with 175k on the clock, and I swear it to this day... that was the BEST of my Volvos. It went on to service other family members who said the same thing. It had been hit and stretched back a bunch of times. Finally some boob ran a red light and put almost twelve grand of damage on the side. Otherwise I'd still have it around, just to see how far I could drive on the clock before something big broke.
--
1992 940 wagon, very low miles
as well as others.