Not a rover, but I have a 73 superbeetle with 492000 miles on the clock, still the original transmission.

 

Really? Are DII's that much less reliable than D1's? I got 265,000 out of my '95 before an engine rebuild. And that was only because it badly overheated a couple of times when I first bought it in 2001.

 

I have no clue.. but I would imagine the more electrical components they incorporated in to the later models.. higher % of failure rate.. ill let you know..

 

I'd say the most reliable vehicle I have encountered is my dad's Series II 88', bloody thing still has the original 2.25L 4 banger. Don't know how many miles are actually on it because the Speedo broke years ago

 

Approaching 200K on my '04 (which averages to 25k a year.... wow I never thought of that til now).
I will say it has had its moments of being an attention *****. Twice I had to turn it in for some repairs adding up to a good amount of change.
The most consistant issue being the transfer box.
But over all, its a tank!!! And I wouldnt trade it for anything (for now).

The wife was hit in the driver side once, I was rear ended once on my way to our marriage rehearsel and I actually rear ended someone when I didnt have enough room to stop the tank in time coming over a hill on the free way. All three times the Disco drove away and only needed cosmetic attention. The other vehicles.... HAHA, not so much!

On the two occassions you would think being a big silver tank it would be easy to notice and avoid... The other time it must have been pretty scary to see it coming in your rear view mirror (luckly everybody in that car was fine I slowed it down enough to the point it didnt crush them... 5 more feet and I would have been good).

Edit:
The current condition is surprisingly good. I only have an O2 issue I have to address... Im also noticing what feels like stuttering, maybe a misfire. But overall im pretty pleased.

 

Mine is at about 139k now and since getting rid of my POS car it became the daily driver. I'm putting about 25k a year on it now too. Pretty damn reliable and hasn't hurt me too bad. Small list of things done recently, air compressor for the SLS, PS pump, hoses, valance under the wiper arms (rock hit it and it shattered!), and here in the next few weeks I will be dropping the Y pipe to weld a crack at the flange on the pass side near the exhaust manifold.

Other than that, still looks new even with plenty of off roading and runs like a top. Doesn't burn a drop of oil even with this mileage.