Compare the2018 GMC AcadiaVS 2018 Mercedes GLC Coupe

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 GLC Coupe 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 GLC Coupe 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 GLC Coupe doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Acadia SLE/SLT’s optional Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The GLC Coupe doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

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 GLC Coupe doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Acadia and the GLC Coupe 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.

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 148 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The GLC Coupe has not been tested, yet.

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

The Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the GLC Coupe’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 GLC Coupe.

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.

The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 69 more horsepower (310 vs. 241) than the GLC 300 Coupe’s standard 2.0 turbo 4 cyl.

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Acadia 4 cyl.’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. (Start/Stop isn’t accounted in present EPA fuel mileage tests.) The GLC Coupe doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

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

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 2 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLC Coupe (19.4 vs. 17.4 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 4.3 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLC Coupe (21.7 vs. 17.4 gallons).

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 GLC Coupe doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

The Acadia stops much shorter than the GLC Coupe:

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

The Acadia SLT AWD handles at .82 G’s, while the GLC 300 Coupe pulls only .79 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the GLC 300 Coupe (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.6 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

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 GLC Coupe 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 GLC Coupe doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

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

The Acadia has 1.4 inches more front headroom, .2 inches more front legroom, 2.1 inches more front shoulder room, 1.3 inches more rear headroom, 2.4 inches more rear legroom and 2.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the GLC Coupe.

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the GLC Coupe’s in almost every dimension:

Maximum trailer towing in the Mercedes GLC Coupe is limited to 3500 pounds. The Acadia offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity.

The Acadia offers a remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The GLC Coupe doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

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

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

The GMC Acadia outsold the Mercedes GLC by over two to one during 2017.