My personal situation is that I was very lucky to find a NOS ML150 stylus for $200 within a week of buying the broken ML180 and for me I am happy to use this stylus as it uses very high quality gold plated Beryllium and has provided great results.
If the ML150 did not come along when it did, I would probably be sending the ML180 to VdH for their "Boron Tube" cantilever option and suspension upgrade which I was quoted around $750 incl. shipping and insurance.