3.2D or 3.6LP...? Back in Oct, I was told the diesel was not available due to a fire at the engine build facility. This may explain the premium price. Our old Ventura had a 2.5LP... It was more than adequate and thrifty on fuel. Our VP has a 3.6LP that will run all electrics including the Mach 8 heat pump. A little more thirsty. If you look at the specs both gen sets are almost identical in fuel consumption at full load, if converted to Lbs/hr. At half power, the diesel has a slight advantage. The LP has slightly more wattage output, which may be an advantage. Sound measurements are identical at 68 db. So, the difference in "noise" may be due to the differences in combustion characteristics, rpm, vibrations. Diesels do seem to have a low frequency throb or resonance compared to a gas motor running at faster rpm, but that's my impression.
There seems to be a concern over needing to running a generator for long periods to charge depleted batteries. That's a reasonable concern... However, we should recall that we are only charging a pair or several batteries and not a battery bank found in a diesel sub. Either gen set should be able bring a healthy battery set up to a "usable" state of charge within a very short time. Usable to me means that it will have enough of its charge restored to be able to generate useful power for a reasonable amount of time. It doesn't mean that it's going to be charged and polished up to maximum effectiveness in every charging cycle. Doing that, it seems to me would be a real waste of energy when you are trying to sustain yourself for several days in the field. So it's that old story of how much effort you have to put in to charging the battery the last several % points.
I like having several options a available to me. Having a diesel genny in a diesel Sprinter seems like putting all my eggs in one basket. If I have an LP set, I at least have a second option should I need to generate power if the diesel side fails. I've already got LP aboard for the range, WH, furnace... So why not tap that source? Then there's the issue of powering the Sprinter if fuel gets low. I've got about 80 miles under ideal conditions ... Less under adverse conditions.
Then there's the diesel stink.... LP has a bit of odor but it's less objectionable...
Then there's more preventive maintenance on the diesel fuel system.