2019 Volkswagen Ameo 1.5 TDi DSG Automatic Longterm Ownership Review – Part1

Model – Volkswagen Ameo 1.5 TDi DSG Automatic
Variant – DSG Automatic Diesel
Trim – Highline Plus
Color – Lapiz Blue (Electric Blue)
Start Odometer – 1350kms
Current Odometer – 2400kms
Fuel Efficiency Best – 17.9kmpl

We have been driving the 2019 Volkswagen Ameo 1.5 Diesel DSG Automatic for the past few weeks as our long term test car. After driving the Tata Nexon which was our last long term frankly we were not that excited to shift to a compact sedan but then the Ameo purely proved us wrong. To get you some history on the Ameo – Volkswagen had specifically developed the Ameo compact sedan for the Indian market based on the Polo hatch which itself is a lovely hatchback that’s highly underrated in its class. The Ameo is loaded comes with all the bells and whistles that a typical Volkswagen car has in terms of overall quality, fit finish and the premium brand value, safety features, everything that’s as per German standards. The Ameo also shares nearly all the virtues of the Polo that it is based on.

In terms of design and styling the Ameo looks exactly like the Polo except for the added boot area. Love it or hate it the flat rear end design did grow on us as the days progressed. Lets firstly tell you what all changes the 2019 version of the Ameo that we driving comes with. On the outside you get Lapiz Blue new paint shade, new design premium looking multi spoke 16 inch alloys, stylish front grille with a dash of chrome on it. The boot lid also gets a faux carbon lip spoiler and faux carbon finish on the wing mirrors too that adds a lot of sporty design element to the sedan. The Ameo is a very well built car, the sheer build quality stands out when you see it parked. Neat small touches like the slim chrome lining on the door handles adds to the premium feel. The quality also shows by the way the doors shut with a nice thud. Cabin insulation is also of high standards and everything that you touch and feel inside the car feels like its built to last for a long long time.

On the inside the Ameo now comes with an all black interior theme and also gets the latest generation touchscreen navigation system with CD/Mp3, USB, aux-in, SD card, bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Mirrorlink etc. This is one of the best infotainment units in the segment and also one of the easiest to use. GPS Navigation works with through the phone while using Apple CarPlay and the navigation works flawlessly. We also used Siri a lot that read out Whatsapp messages to us and also to reply back to the messages effortlessly helping us keep our hands where they should be, on the steering wheel. The music system comes with a 4-speaker setup with very good rich sound quality playing from FM radio, AM radio (for world cup cricket commentary) alike. The centre dash also gets a touch of premium feel with the gun metal surrounds that add a lot of glamour to the dual tone dashboard.

The Volkswagen Ameo has been with us over the past month and has driven us to our daily chores may it be to the market or to the gym, collage dropping and airport pickups and not forgetting that important monthly trip to the D-Mart for monthly groceries and as a backup car for our shoots. The Ameo has done everything effortlessly. The highlight being the trips to Mohammad Ali Road at Mumbai during Ramazaan for our food trail.

As mentioned the cabin insulation is extremely good giving you a very safe and secure feel which is very typical of Volkswagen cars. The driver seat comes with height adjust while the leather wrapped steering also gets adjust for height and reach that helps the driver to make this seat and position perfect. The flat bottom steering feels very premium to grip, the touch of chrome adds to the overall feel good factor, the steering has the multi-function buttons neatly laid out on them. You also get cruise control on the feature list adding to the convenience factor.

Seating on the front seats is extremely comfortable, at the rear you also get good comfort levels, manual adjustable head rests add to the comfort levels along with rear AC vents. He cabin is spacious with good amount of knee room, headroom and shoulder room for all occupants. There are a lot of neat touches on the interiors of the Ameo which include, the XXL sized cooled glovebox, height adjustable centre armrest with storage, loads of cubby holes in the centre console, doorpads, auto up-down feature for all door windows, back-lit for the power window buttons, classy looking and very easy to use instrument cluster with MFD, auto dimming rear view mirror, rain sensing wipers to name a few. The Ameo has a boot space of 330 Liters which we found large enough for our use.

This being the first report on the Volkswagen Ameo we will speak on the overall drive, fuel efficiency and other technicalities plus we also come to our conclusion in the next report shortly.