An interesting set of replies. I really thought I'd be taken to task for even thinking that diesel might still be an alternative to petrol
In all seriousness, I think my decision has been made, in that I will keep the GTD until the end of the PCP (around 1 years time), then either possibly decide to purchase it if the diesel climate has changed for the positive and things have stabilized, or chop it in. TBH, not too worried about depreciation, and none of my previous 5 VW's have never really earned me any real equity (suppose VW got their sums right then), so worst case scenario, I just had the car back to VW, and they will have yet another possibly hard to sell second hand diesel on their hands. It's just not economically viable at this time to make a knee jerk reaction.
Despite my writings in that I think the end of the diesel engine has been very premature, I know that my next new car whatever it will be, will not be a diesel. I do love the lazy torque and the great MPG that diesel offers, but I also need to constantly be aware of running the car at reasonable speeds occasionally to avoid DPF issues (which I've got used to over the last 3 VW diesels and is sort of second nature now). Also, with the wife having a Polo Blue GT (1.4 TSI 140ps DSG), when I do occasionally drive that, especially in winter, I'm constantly amazed at how quickly the engine reaches normal operating temperature (approx 2 miles) compared to my GTD (approx 10-12 miles), and the lovely sound it makes and how free revving it is.
Yes I think petrol is in my future but not because I don't believe diesel has a future, (it has), but because my circumstances and small annual mileages no longer warrant the great MPG that the derv engine offers, and I can afford to take a 20-30% hit on economy to start having a bit more refinement and occasional fun. The problem will be, what do I replace it with ? I do love the Golf (have had 6 of them including 2 MK7 GTD's), would I want a 3rd MK7 (7.5) even if it is a GTI, especially with a MK8 rumoured to be coming in 2019/2020 - who knows, I guess it depends on finances at the time.
Now, I'm going to be totally out there now. Last weekend I went with a friend to test drive Skoda's new Karoq, which for those that don't know is the companies new compact SUV. Now I know the term SUV is a bit of a swear word, and I certainly agree to a point. The Range Rovers, X5's, Q7's Touareg's etc. that i see, tend to be driven by single occupancy drivers who use the car as a status symbol rather than an actual need and are gas guzzlers and emit huge amounts of Nox and Co2 (compared to a smaller hatchback) and therefore should be taxed much further. But the arrival of the "compact" SUV, that gives similar performance, emissions and MPG as a hatch are still quite interesting to me.
The Karoq is one such car. I have to say, I was seriously impressed especially after having recently sat in an new VW T-Roc which whilst looking nice had an awful cheap plastic interior. Well the one in the Karoq was anything but that. Soft touch materials, ambient lighting everywhere (including the ability to change colours), and very similar tech to the VW group, including the active info display, LED lighting, Lane assist, rear assist, passenger detections etc etc. I won't go into the whole thing like a review but trust me for just over £30k (before discount), that a fully loaded Karoq Edition with almost every option ticked. It's a lot of car for the money (with the 1.5 TSI 150PS DSG engine), and I have to be honest, it's the first Skoda I've actually looked at that looks really good from all angles. I was really surprised as I expected the build quality to be a little down from VW, but if anything it was better ! As I'm not getting any younger the slightly higher driving position suited me (although not true 4x4 ride height), in a car not much bigger dimensionally (expect height) or weight. Oh, I might have a contender