Suggest you look at either a Skoda Octavia Estate or a Seat Leon Estate, same car as the Golf/A4 but without the premium prices.

I bought a Seat Leon in June last year and had the petrol vs diesel equation to decide after almost 17 years driving mostly diesels without issues (even DPF's and DMF's). The new 1.4 TSi was getting excellent reviews and tried one, I was staggered and bought one, still absolutely delighted.

Getting just over 45 mpg which when you consider the petrol vs diesel price difference equates to almost 48 mpg in diesel terms. My last diesel (A BMW 118d) did 48 mpg thus my fuel costs have not changed.

The car drives better than any diesel I have owned in the past, the performance is simply staggering for a 1.4. There is not turbo lag and the engine is way more refined than any diesel I have driven.

Buying the petrol saved me £2000 in comparrison to the nearest Leon diesel and I have no worries about DPF's etc.

Try one and prepare to be amazed.

PS Ignore any doom mongers posts about the TSi being unreliable. This is a brand new engine that is totally unrelated to the previous TSi models some veresions of which were a money pit. In truth when you scout the forums it was the twin charged versions (now discountinued) which gave the model all the bad press but as always some people cannot look beyond the name.

That's excellent economy, what sort of driving mix is that?

Also interesting that according to the specs, the 1.4 has the same max torque output over pretty much the same rev range as the 1.8TSI. 180-odd lb-ft is very healthy.

My commute is 15 miles each way, 3 days a week, takes 30 minutes. The remainder of my mileage is shops, relatives, woods with the dog etc. Occational coast trips during the summer.

When i bought it I very briefly considered the 1.8 TSi but the RFL and fuel costs were going to be much higher and after driving the 1.4 TSi I could see no point in even trying the 1.8 TSi. With regards to the torque both the 1.4 TSi and 1.8 TSi have 184 lbs ft from 1500 rpm, the only difference is the 1.8 range extends to 4000 rpm wheras the 1.4 ends at 3500 rpm. I asked the dealer why this was so, previous experience says the 1.8 TSi should have much more torque. The answer was simple, blame the 7 speed dry plate DSG gearbox they fit as an option to the 1.8 TSi. This is limited by VAG to 184 lbs ft of torque for safety thus the engine has to be mapped to not destroy the gearbox. Manuals could be mapped to produce considerably more torque but for marketing reasons selling the car with an expensive gearbox and less torque is not viable.

Loads of muppets already re-mapping the 1.8 TSi DSG to produce ludicrous amounts of power but their solution is simple. Sell the car just before the warranty runs out and its not their problems, expect loads of posts on here in about 3 years time.

So why not fit the car with the 6 speed wet clutch DSG box?

If you are buying a new car its debatable whether a diesel will be cheaper overall especially if you are only doing short runs and a relatively low mileage.

Buying secondhand is a completely different kettle of fish especially if you don't mind something older. I bought a Peugeot 406 estate about four years ago for £950, its never broken down on me in 30.000 + miles and will do 60 mpg driven gently. It now has 220,000 miles on the clock and still has the original clutch, DMF and head gasket.

Pity, the older one will probably last longer and be cheaper tp maintain.