100 series cruisers

If you want to stay with in 200klm of a big city then the V8 gas will be alright.

If you want to use the vehicle as a touring vehicle and as a 4wd then the turbo diesel is the only way to go.

Wayne

Around town the V8 does not have the slight turbo lag in acceleration of the TD and this would suit those who are around town more.

The federal govt has a policy of ratcheting the duty on gas up to 'world parity' over
time so I wouldn'd count on always having a price advantage from gas.

Firstly the 100 series has a couple of achilles heels you need to be aware of. Not saying don't buy one, just that you should know about them before forking out your hard earned.

I've got a 4.5 petrol 105 on gas and get 850km's range using both tanks fully loaded and towing a tandem trailer. LPG is a third the cost of diesel so it works out to roughly half price in real terms. Similar power on LPG to petrol.

I'm off for a trip to some stations in the northern WA goldfields soon. I'll run from Perth to Leinster and back on gas which'll save me big bucks. Fill up the LPG tank at Leinster and then run on ULP when off road. Very happy. Diesel would be better for the remote stuff, but you can't have everything. For the other 95% of the time I'm very happy. Have a look at the LPG website, there is autogas available nearly everywhere there is a sealed road.

A factory TD auto would be nice, very nice but I found them simply too expensive for what you get at the moment. Keep in mind when the new Landcruiser 130 series V8TD CRD comes out next year, the price on secondhand Landcruiser 100 series turbo diesels will fall significantly. The 100's will never have the same secondhand demand as the 80 series TD's are currently experiencing due to the IFS and crap front diff and as a result will depreciate at a more realistic rate.

There are big pro's and cons for both, but it is entirely dependant on what you are going to do with it. Some people view a 4x4 as a long range desert crosser, some a hard core rock crawling monster and some as versatile, comfortable and prestigious day to day transport. Arrange a test drive of both and see what you think. Both very nice rigs.

Just my 2c worth.