robho - 3:00 pm on Jun 11, 2007 (gmt 0)

Same for me, ask.com still shows (and ranks well) an address I 301'd more than FIVE years ago. I still have the 301 in place, for this reason (and for other old links).

Just checked further, for a different site where I sold the domain late last century, there's still a reference to a page there that hasn't existed for at least seven years - and it still ranks #1 for a search term that hasn't been on the page (nor the new owner's home page, which they 301 it to) for at least seven years...

Making the site pretty is all very well, but actually updating the index might help more.