I want to purchase a Skoda Octavia and I’ll be grateful for any advice that you can offer on whether to buy a diesel or a petrol model.

I’m looking at two almost identical cars but one has the 1.6 TDI CR diesel and the other is the 1.4 TSI petrol. The cars have almost identical mileage, they are almost the same age, they are the same trim level and pretty much the same price. Therefore any advice on which one to go for will be greatly appreciated.

Up until now I’ve always had petrol engine cars because up until now our annual mileage has been quite low, say only 5000-6000 per year. However we have a baby due for imminent arrival and I know that with my wife on maternity leave next year and using the car much more during the week, plus lots of additional visits to friends and family all over the UK I’ve estimated that our annual mileage will jump to around 12,000–14,000 per year.

Looking at the potential fuel cost of diesel vs petrol over 12-14k miles the diesel looks quite appealing just to add to the fact that the road tax cost is lower.

However in addition to some long journeys during the course of a year we’ll also do quite a few shorter journeys and so I wonder if this means that we should think twice about buying a diesel because of potential issues with the DPF and/or anything else? Also I wonder whether we’ll actually see anywhere near the higher mpg potential of the diesel over the petrol when used on the shorter journeys without the chance to get the engine warmed up?

Over the course of a normal month I’ve worked out that our regular journeys to visit friends & family will be:-

4 x 51 miles
4 x 16 miles
24 x 7 miles
16 x 12 miles
4 x 9 miles
4 x 24 miles

Then they’ll be up to about 20 miles per week or 80 per month of short local journeys which could be something like a 2 mile journey to the shops when there’s a lot of shopping or a trip to the DIY store to pick up a bulky item that I can’t walk home with.

Plus over the course of the year they’ll be at least two or three long trips to including visits to friends & family in Scotland, Cornwall & some other stops and these will most likely be 1000 mile plus round trips.

Also having not owned a diesel before do they in general cost any more than petrol cars to maintain and service? Also any other diesel related tips that I should be aware of will be gratefully received.