Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2018 Mercedes GLE

For enhanced safety, the GMC Acadia’s middle seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Mercedes GLE doesn’t offer comfort guides on its middle seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Acadia are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The GLE doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The GLE doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

To help make backing safer, the Acadia (except SL)’s optional cross-path warning system uses wide-angle radar in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The GLE doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Acadia and the GLE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and around view monitors.

GMC’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Mercedes covers the GLE. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the GLE ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the GLE’s (6 vs. 5 years).

GMC pays for scheduled maintenance on the Acadia for 2 years and 24,000 miles. GMC will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance (up to 2 oil changes). Mercedes doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the GLE.

There are almost 5 times as many GMC dealers as there are Mercedes dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2017 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that GMC vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 16th in initial quality. With 3 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is ranked 17th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2016 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC fifth in reliability, above the industry average. With 15 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is ranked 12th.

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia gets better fuel mileage than the GLE:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The GLE requires premium, which can cost 20 to 55 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The GLE doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Mercedes GLE only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The GLE doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Acadia SLT AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the GLE550e 4MATIC pulls only .71 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.9 seconds quicker than the GLE550e 4MATIC (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 29.8 seconds @ .57 average G’s).

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 700 to 1100 pounds less than the Mercedes GLE.

The front grille of the Acadia FWD 4 cyl. uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The GLE doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Acadia uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The GLE doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has standard seating for 7 passengers; the GLE can only carry 5.

The Acadia has 1.4 inches more front headroom, .7 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 1.3 inches more rear legroom and .3 inches more rear shoulder room than the GLE.

Pressing a switch automatically lowers the Acadia’s second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The GLE doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Acadia Denali’s cargo door can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The GLE doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its cargo door, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Acadia has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the GLE only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

To shield the driver and front passenger’s vision over a larger portion of the windshield and side windows, the Acadia has standard extendable sun visors. The GLE doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Insurance will cost less for the Acadia owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Acadia will cost $1585 less than the GLE over a five-year period.

The Acadia will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Acadia will retain 46.28% to 52.71% of its original price after five years, while the GLE only retains 41.29% to 45.92%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Acadia is less expensive to operate than the GLE because typical repairs cost much less on the Acadia than the GLE, including $440 less for a water pump, $226 less for an alternator, $43 less for front brake pads, $393 less for a starter, $253 less for fuel injection, $433 less for front struts and $179 less for a power steering pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the GMC Acadia will be $20229 to $67400 less than for the Mercedes GLE.

The GMC Acadia outsold the Mercedes GLE by almost three to one during the 2016 model year.