I daily drive mine with no issues. 10k to 12k miles per year every year since 2007. My other car is 52 years old now... I could daily that too but it is a bit less comfortable.

Sure there have been issues along the way, Luckily I can afford to make the repairs and move along.

I've always suggested maintaining a $2000 per year maintenance budget... Over the long term it will average out. Some years you will get lucky... Then the Rover gods come knocking... Count on it.

 

Rover gods or old car gods do come knocking at some point. Have had my white d2 for 4 years now and over 30k miles (not babied in any way) and only had an alternator and a idler pulley to deal with until this summer when all sorts of things started dying. Radiator, water pump, front main seal and head gasket finally gave out this year (130K miles on factory gaskets), throttle body heater gasket and I'm sure a few other small items. Now nothing there is a massive individual cost and I do my own work but it is a good chunk of time when these those parts fall like dominos and not doing it all at once.

 

Yep, driving an older vehicle as a daily is difficult...no matter the brand. However, if you stay on top of preventative maintenance and pop the hood once a week (looking/listening for suspicious activities)...it can be done. Daily drove my 01 for two years, 70 miles round trip to work = 18K, and it never left me stranded. My wife has been driving her 03 daily for about three years now, granted she does about 7K a year, and has had no breakdowns. Now, l'm a mechanic, have time and place to make repairs and maintain...so, that does help.

It really depends on driving distance, importance of getting to work or not, your mechanical skills, other driving needs (travel) and desire to drive something a little bit different than everybody else. If your budget is heavily dependent on fuel mileage, then this is obviously not the vehicle for you.

 

Lots of good thoughts here on the daily driver topic.

I think “you get what you pay for” applies here to some extent. If you want to go the cheap route and buy the least expensive Disco you can find, you’ll more than likely be stuck with a project every weekend for quite a while.

The biggest advice I can offer the OP (things I didn’t do!) is to make a list of specific questions to ask the seller, and make a comprehensive list of things to look at and buttons to press when you go look at a Disco in person. Take the list with you and look at every single thing on it. Use the pre purchase advice forum posts here to help formulate it, watch some YouTube videos, and then add anything that is of particular importance to you.

Try to find a few for sale local, even if you aren’t interested, to test the list. Go with the intent of learning more about the vehicle. Learn where all the buttons are on the interiors, learn to pop the hood, learn where the important things are in the engine bay, learn all the little stuff. It’s tough to get it right if you buy the first one you look at. If you spend time looking at them in person you’ll be able to see things you wouldn’t see otherwise.

Its a time investment up front, but it will mitigate the chance of getting a completely neglected truck.

Last comment on daily drivers: My two previous daily’s were both close to 200k Porsche 944’s. One cost next to nothing to keep on the road, the second cost almost the purchase price within the first 18 months of ownership. Why the reason for the maintenance cost disparity? One was a car I knew well, Inknew the PO, and I knew it’s history. The second (the one that cost a ton to maintain) I bought sight unseen (it was also a Turbo model which means everything’s more expensive as well).They’re much older cars than Discos so there are many more age related issues, but they’re certainly of a higher build quality. Overall similar ownership experience. Disco’s are much more refined and a way better Daily.

That being said, I’d take off on a 300 miles trip in either of them no problem. Disco’s are the same. Treat them like they’re 10 years older than they are and you’ll be fine.

 

The only thing I'll add to all these excellent observations and experiences (if some what contrary) is that it helps immensely to have a mechanical aptitude if you're planning to buy one of these trucks. A Disco is not a vehicle that you simply fill with fuel and tool around in. While that's possible once you've baselined it, you need to have an in depth understanding of what makes them run, and what makes them not run. If you don't have a good toolbox in your garage that you frequent regularly, you are asking for heartache. Emotionally because it's easy to become enamored with them as they are such great trucks, and financially because of the damage they can do to your wallet having them serviced and repaired. Can you imagine dropping the truck off at the corner garage because the 3 amigos are lit up? An honest shop will charge $200-$300, a dishonest one could charge you four figures. And 9 times out of 10 it can be fixed in your driveway for free. I've put 20k essentially trouble-free miles using my Disco as a DD, but I did the headgaskets and fluid pumps midway because I was losing coolant (externally), for a grand total of about $300. That is not a scenario from which a non-mechanically inclined person will emerge whole. Yet it is unfortunately fairly common in these trucks. Luckily I was proactive and have plenty of other cars to drive, so the Disco is a perfect fit for me.

In summary, I advise most people who ask me about my truck never to buy one. Mainly because I don't want to be fixing my friend's vehicles all the time, but also because I know that most of them are not "car-people" and tragedy is imminent from multiple angles somewhere down the line. Anyone considering one of these trucks needs to be prepared to have a project of some sort on their hands most of the time, which doesn't means it will be undriveable more times than not, just that successful ownership requires more than simply fuel and oil changes. A Camry is about the polar opposite of a Disco, if that helps. Without trying to sound condescending, asking if there are any "big gotchas" is probably a good indicator that this is not a sensible purchase. There are lots.