Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2018 Mercedes GLS

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 GLS 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 GLS 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 GLS 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 GLS doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Acadia and the GLS have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, plastic fuel tanks, 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.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 110 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The GLS has not been tested, yet.

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

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the GLS’ (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 GLS.

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 AWD V6 gets better fuel mileage than the GLS450 (17 city/25 hwy vs. 17 city/22 hwy).

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline. The GLS 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 GLS doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia stops much shorter than the GLS:

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Mercedes GLS 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 GLS doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Acadia Denali AWD handles at .85 G’s, while the GLS450 pulls only .74 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.2 seconds quicker than the GLS450 (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Acadia’s turning circle is 2 feet tighter than the GLS’ (38.7 feet vs. 40.7 feet).

The GMC Acadia may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 1350 to 1400 pounds less than the Mercedes GLS.

The Acadia is 8 inches shorter than the GLS450, making the Acadia easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

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 GLS 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 GLS doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has .7 inches more front legroom, .9 inches more front shoulder room, 1.2 inches more rear legroom, .4 inches more rear shoulder room and 3.8 inches more third row shoulder room than the GLS.

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 GLS 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 GLS only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

The Acadia has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning costs extra on the GLS.

The Acadia is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The GLS doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

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