Oldskool Petrol or Diesel for Reliability?

[Crazy Dazz]

Still a ways off, and many rivers to cross, etc, but friends have commenced planning for a "rally." (Of the "tourist" variety, not competitive.) Definitely more in the "****box" vein.

Which is just a roundabout way of bringing me to a very fundamental question about reliability in older cars: Petrol or Diesel?

I'd break this down into 3 questions:

1. Will it start in the morning?
2. Can I push-start if the battery is flat?
3. Can I fix it if it all goes pear-shaped?

Now I have to say that the most fundamentally unbreakable car I have ever driven is my son's Patrol with the 4.2TD. Basically as long as you have fuel and a slope, that thing will start.
My experience with older petrol cars is that problems are usually the ignition or the carbie, and the old diesel has neither.
But what happens if the injectors stop working, or the pump lets fly?