<<<Some do, others don't. I've seen plenty of original sticks that
exceeded 150k and plenty of autos that didn't.>>

Mark,

Considering that the manual gear box has gone through 3 clutches in the
150k the automatic is still the lesser of two evil's.

And the automatics that have failed are only due to human neglect.

You have to service that trans at least once every 15 years or so.