What would put me off a TDI (from any manufacturer) is the inevitable wearing out of the fuel system. Every person I've known with a VAG 2.0 TDI (140 or 170) has had a fuel delivery issue (pump / injectors) of some sort. Likewise common rail diesels from other marques - I had 4 injectors go on my last diesel, likewise with my sister's car, a colleague spoke to me today and said his Merc 320CDI is playing up, and another colleague had a couple of new injectors on his 220CDI a month ago. In the past year when someone has mentioned a problem with their car to me, if it's been a diesel it's been high hundreds maybe thousands, or if it's a petrol it's been a coil or sensor at only tens of pounds.
Anecdotal? Yes. The good thing about using more fuel with a petrol is you can plan for it, but for some people the surprise cost of a couple of injectors / fuel pump is quite hard to stomach.
I'd quite like a fast diesel as an every day car, if it delivered good fuel economy with solid reliability. From past experience though, I just can't be bothered with the surprise costs and unreliability.
Getting back on topic - my experience of a 170 GTD and a 105PD is that the GT is far more driver orientated, but the 1.9 was easier to get good mpg from, unsurprisingly.