[Porsche-O-Phile]

My understanding is that a brand name dealership will only keep about 1 in 100 vehicles on its own lot (Certified Pre-Owned or "CPO"). Those are the best of the best - the ones with relatively low mileage and that can be prettied up for low cost with a cheap coat of wax, some shiny stuff on the tires and what-not. All the rest immediately get resold to either auction houses or third-party dealers.

"High mileage" doesn't really matter that much. It's a silly convention that can sometimes work in your favor (like you've figured out from the sound of it). Some makes/models are simply more durable than others. And in general I'd rather have a 60,000-mile vehicle driven normally than a 20,000-mile vehicle owned by some punk kid and drag raced at every light/neutral slammed/etc. Point is, the type of use matters a lot more than the number alone might...