Down here in Australia, the V8 Disco's are worth peanuts and the diesels fetch premium dollar. The 200 & 300 diesels are bloody tough engines and have proven themselves in our various environments. The V8's here haven't stood up anywhere near as well, and are often clapped-out now.
There are many things I love about owning a diesel...for starters there's the tractor-sound! I realise things are different over your way, but here driving a diesel means you're driving a rig for real use, not for dumping the kiddies off at school. A proper mans-toy.
It's not a fast engine, but it's got enough grunt to keep pace with traffic. It will happily sit cruising at 110klm/hr all day long with a full load in the back. You can feel that it's solid and has shed-loads of torque capable of pulling anything. Economy is absolutely brilliant, and I average 1100klm per tank.
The simplicity and design of the engine makes it very easy to work on, with clear access to all areas. It's an very reliable unit which is capable of extremely high mileage so long as maintenance is kept on top of. If you wish to do water crossings and the like, diesel is the way to go due to no dizzy. You will find that maintaining speed on hilly sections of highways can be slower going, but you'd quickly learn what gears and ways to keep the momentum. It's actually quite fun and keeps you more switched-on while driving tbh...and that can't be a bad thing!
As a side note about the V8 on lpg, it's been a common conversion down here with mixed reactions. On one hand you either saccrifice your touring range or your tailgate space. On the other, there are frequent reports of backfiring causing numerous problems. I'm not saying this is always the case, and there are some great example V8's out there.
Personally, buy the diesel!
