My thoughts are probably irrelevant, but I feel I ought to post
something where I don't just ask a question. I'm at the first stage of
swapping a 2002 petrol Omega estate and a 1992 200TDi Defender 110
hardtop for some sort of Disco plus something that will run forever on a
thimble of diesel, but carry lots of junk.

The 110 has now gone (SWMBO hated the colour and daughter kept asking if
her door was closed on the motorway etc etc) and because of a sudden
financial downturn has been replaced by a 1997 300TDi auto rather than
the TD5's I'd started to look at. I had 3 locals tell me to avoid early
TD5's unless I was very sure of the condition.

Family wouldn't let me try the 110 on ebay or via local ad, so it was
traded in for just under half what I hoped it was worth. I already miss
the load space of the 110 and the feeling of not caring about a small
dent or two. I also miss the ability to climb up it to prune the trees,
climb onto the boat and so on, and I may have to carry some sort of saw
bench instead of using the bumpers and open back door as a working area.

The auto box on the Disco is very different from that on the Omega, but
seems OK and I am quite happy so far. The noise level is higher than I
expected in queuing traffic, but reasonably OK when rolling along. Seems
much noisier than the equivalent age V8 I've occasionally ridden. There
is some rust, but mainly in non-essential areas and it has been
Waxoyled. Certainly feels as though I might get part of my life back
that used to be spent worrying about and staring and poking at the 110's
chassis.
I've been shown replacement dampers and springs for if the suspension
turns out to be too soft when I do my rather fraught occasional towing.
My adjustable pin + ball + steps tow hitch was swapped over as part of
the trade in, but I think some welding had to be done. The steps get in
the way, but have already been useful.
I swapped the radio over. In the Disco I can hear it, in the 110 it was
a waste of space.
The Disco is only slightly better than the 110 for manoeuvrability,
partly because it's more difficult to guess where the corners are, and
not as good as the Omega. I expect I'll get used to it.

The thing that surprised me was the insurance. For 3rd party only, it's
almost double the insurance for the 110, both with the NFU. Have to shop
around next year.

I reckon I'll get under 4k for the Omega (was a great buyer's car when I
bought it, and still appears to be), and having looked at the price of
awful little cars, might make the overlap run for quite a time.

A Disco II V8 with LPG could be just the job, cheap to buy as everyone wants
the TD5 so you could probably get a late model with full leather etc and
still have money for a quality LPG conversion. Very reliable too generally
apart from odd issues with ABS wheel sensors etc. Alternative is a TD5, but
go for the auto if you do as the manual is hard work.

If you are brave their are a few D3's coming through from the Highways
Agency at around the £12-13K price tag. High mileage though (200k+) but
warranted and with FSH and a generally easy life trawling up and down the
M-Ways at 56mph :-)