I am looking for the first piano for our family and would greatly appreciate the insight of this collective group regarding a piano's chronological age vs. it's "piano age". My preference is to buy a good quality used piano rather than a new, inferior quality piano.

I am wondering if there is a particular age by which a piano must have significant restorative work completed regardless of how/when it was used and maintained. If so, is there a consensus on when this occurs? Conversely, if the piano was lightly/rarely used, will it last much longer than one that is more heavily played on a daily basis. Also, is consistent tuning that important or if a piano has not been tuned for several years (or more) can it be re-tuned and then regularly tuned thereafter with minimal impact?

Finally, is there a particular period of time when piano manufacturing was generally (or specifically by manufacturer) considered so bad that it should be avoided? Thank you very much for your thoughts and guidance as I continue in my search.

Wear on a piano comes from two directions. Chronological age, where the clock ticks on the battle between the soundboard and the pressures it is under as well as felts becomming dry and brittle as well as the wood action parts and other components. Use factor, where some regular moderate use is helpful, constant hard use is a negative factor wearing all of the parts.

Pianos don't last forever.
Pianos don't get better with age.
The useful musical life of a typical Asian built piano is about 40 years.
The second half is never as satisfying, mechanically and musically, as the first half.