Originally Posted by Paul Grant

First, there are no absolute guarantees in life. Whatever maintenance you do on the truck once you have it can't undo years and miles of neglect. That's why I mentioned the need for as complete a service history as you can get. Carfax is good but it's not the end all in automotive information. Insist on as much history as you can when you're getting down to the brass tacks of buying one of these trucks.

If you're fortunate enough to find a well cared for Rover with a detailed history that you can use as a starting point and you an vigilant about upkeep while you own the truck you may very well see 200K. I've taken apart Rovers with that and more. I'm seeing DII's approaching that mileage and they're still doing their thing. So, it's not out of the question. However, just like someone on this thread already said, buy the truck as cheaply as you can with the knowledge that at any time regardless of your care, something catastrophic may go wrong.

Who knows, you might buy a clean Rover with relatively low mileage and have it for the next ten years. Maybe you're on the verge of becoming a Rover fanatic just like so many of us here on LRF. It might be that all you will see for a long time are small problems that can be solved easily on the weekends and you may derive a great degree of satisfaction from working on the truck.

I'm of the opinion to own one of these trucks, you have to be, at the core, an optimist.