Diesel or petrol

Depends on what you need.  Diesel will be more economical as it is cheaper and can travel further compared to their petrol counterpart.  Like petrol it is also widely available.  Quality is not at par as Europe or U.S. but locally assembled diesel engines will burn it just fine.  For city driving definitely diesel.

Most of the large SUVs have the latest CRDI diesel engines that offer speed and efficiency, however there are drawbacks. Servicing periods are twice as often as Petrol, special oil for the CRDI is expensive as are parts and maintenance costs. If you do lots of journeys then save money on the fuel costs but it will need the services to stay in the warranty. No one has experienced the "longevity" of the CRDI engines yet and the resale value is dubious, and it will need to return to the main dealer for servicing. Considering all aspects an ISUZU crosswind with normal diesel engine would be the car to buy or maybe its bigger brother. It has poor road tests but then is easier to get serviced and is a strong vehicle, resale values would also be reasonable. Unlike ordinary diesel engines the CRDI requires good clean fuel for normal running and get some bad stuff and you are stuck.
I have a Honda CRV it has been terrific, smooth gear changes, very comfortable and many safety features.

I agree with peteranmila. I went with a 2002 Mitsubishi L200 4door pickup. It gives me the convenience to have 4 passengers comfortably and the convenience of a pickup. It is also 4 wheel drive so when I take trips I have less worries about road conditions ahead. The new versions of the L200 (Strada) are more susceptible to bad fuel which will result in expensive repairs (fuel pump, etc..) I prefer the diesel as it has a lot more torque and you rarely will be driving over 70mph in this country (mainly on the NLEX/SCTEX).