I've owned diesel cars now for as long as I can remember - right from the early stinky and tractor sounding jobbies up to the super smooth BMW's and finally now the CX-5 in spite of many early reservations as to it's reliability which only time alone will prove one way or the other. In short then - I'm a diesel freak and probably won't change; in this life time anyway LOL.
That said, were it not for the fact that we tow a caravan and therefore need a car with a bit of grunt and plenty of stowage space I would perhaps have been more tempted to move in the direction of petrol as my annual mileage - excluding caravan towing trips - is quite low. In your shoes, unless there is another aspect to your posted usage I would definitely
go for the petrol.Just for informational purposes - since ownership my CX-5 is now a few kilometres short of 2,000 with, to the best of my knowledge, three DPF regenerations having taken place. Unfortunately I always seem to find myself in situations where the car is stationary at lights or in very slow or stop/go moving traffic such as was the case this past weekend following an incident on the motorway. At times like this, DFP regenerations have been very noticeable and were it not for the fact of being forewarned, the awful smell that is created would have had me immediately exiting the car and opening up the bonnet to see what the problem was.
PS If you do go for the diesel then opt for the 150PS motor as the 175PS is one hell of a lump.