Compare the2023 Buick EnclaveVS 2022 Mercedes GLB

For enhanced safety, the Buick Enclave’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 GLB 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 Enclave are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The GLB doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Enclave 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 GLB doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Enclave’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the GLB.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Enclave’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The GLB doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

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

The Buick Enclave weighs 468 to 1047 pounds more than the Mercedes GLB. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.

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

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

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

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Buick vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Buick above average in initial quality. With 37 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Buick second in reliability, above the industry average. With 48 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is ranked 18th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Buick vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Buick fourth in overall reliability. Mercedes is ranked 20th.

The Enclave’s 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 89 more horsepower (310 vs. 221) and 8 lbs.-ft. more torque (266 vs. 258) than the GLB’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Buick Enclave is faster than the Mercedes GLB:

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

The Enclave FWD’s standard fuel tank has 3.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLB (19.4 vs. 15.9 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Enclave AWD’s standard fuel tank has 5.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLB (21.7 vs. 15.9 gallons).

The Enclave 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 GLB doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Buick Enclave higher (6 out of 10) than the Mercedes GLB (5). This means the Enclave produces up to 6.9 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the GLB every 15,000 miles.

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the Buick Enclave, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the GLB.

The Enclave’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the GLB are solid, not vented.

For better traction, the Enclave has larger tires than the GLB (255/65R18 vs. 235/55R18).

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

The Enclave 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 GLB doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Enclave has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the GLB; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed. Some tire options on the GLB don’t have a run-flat feature, either.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Enclave’s wheelbase is 9.5 inches longer than on the GLB (120.9 inches vs. 111.4 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Enclave is 4.1 inches wider in the front and 3.8 inches wider in the rear than on the GLB.

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

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

The Enclave has 1.9 inches more front headroom, .1 inches more front legroom, 6.3 inches more front shoulder room, .6 inches more rear headroom, .2 inches more rear legroom, 6.7 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.8 inches more third row headroom, 4.4 inches more third row legroom and 13.5 inches more third row shoulder room than the GLB.

The Enclave’s cargo area provides more volume than the GLB.

The Enclave’s cargo area is larger than the GLB’s in almost every dimension:

Pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Enclave Premium/Avenir’s third row seats, to make changing between cargo and passengers easier. The GLB doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Enclave has a 1500 lbs. towing capacity. The GLB has no towing capacity.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Buick service is better than Mercedes. J.D. Power ranks Buick fifth in service department satisfaction. With a 23% lower rating, Mercedes is ranked 18th.

The Enclave Premium/Avenir has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and tachometer readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The GLB doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Enclave’s available exterior PIN entry system. The GLB doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Mercedes-Benz Emergency Call can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

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

Consumer Reports rated the Enclave’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the GLB’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

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

The Enclave has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the GLB. The Enclave Premium/Avenir also has standard heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the GLB.

The Enclave has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the vehicle heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the GLB.

To quickly and conveniently keep personal devices charged without cables tangling and wearing out, the Buick Enclave has a standard wireless phone charging system (Qi) in the center console. Wireless charging costs extra on the GLB.

Insurance will cost less for the Enclave owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Enclave will cost $665 to $1710 less than the GLB over a five-year period.

The Buick Enclave outsold the Mercedes GLB by 67% during the 2021 model year.