Compare the2023 Hyundai Santa FeVS 2023 Mercedes GLB

Both the Santa Fe and GLB have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Santa Fe has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The GLB’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

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 Santa Fe 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.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The GLB doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

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

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Santa Fe its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 112 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The GLB has not been tested, yet.

The Santa Fe comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The GLB’s 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 10,000 miles sooner.

Hyundai’s powertrain warranty covers the Santa Fe 6 years and 50,000 miles longer than Mercedes covers the GLB. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the GLB ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The Santa Fe’s corrosion warranty is 2 years longer than the GLB’s (7 vs. 5 years).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Santa Fe for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Mercedes doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the GLB.

There are over 2 times as many Hyundai dealers as there are Mercedes dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Santa Fe’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Santa Fe’s reliability 25 points higher than the GLB.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. With 4 fewer problems per 100 vehicles, JD Power ranks Hyundai higher than Mercedes.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in reliability, above the industry average. With 47 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is ranked 18th.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Hyundai vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Hyundai 11 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 60 more horsepower (281 vs. 221) and 53 lbs.-ft. more torque (311 vs. 258) than the GLB’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Mercedes GLB:

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

The Santa Fe has 2.9 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLB (18.8 vs. 15.9 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

For better stopping power the Santa Fe 2.5T’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the GLB:

The Santa Fe stops shorter than the GLB:

For better traction, the Santa Fe Calligraphy’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the GLB (255/45R20 vs. 235/55R18).

The Santa Fe has a standard space-saver spare (not available on Limited/Calligraphy AWD) 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 better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Santa Fe is 1.5 inches wider in the front and 1.8 inches wider in the rear than the track on the GLB.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the GLB 250 4MATIC pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the GLB 250 4MATIC (26.7 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.5 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Santa Fe’s turning circle is 1 foot tighter than the GLB’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.4 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Santa Fe has a greater minimum ground clearance than the GLB (8.2 vs. 7.9 inches), allowing the Santa Fe to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Santa Fe has .5 inches more front headroom, 3 inches more front legroom, 3.2 inches more front shoulder room, 3.6 inches more rear legroom and 3.4 inches more rear shoulder room than the GLB.

The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the GLB with its rear seat up (36.4 vs. 5.1 cubic feet). The Santa Fe has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the GLB with its rear seat folded (72.1 vs. 62 cubic feet).

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

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Santa Fe’s (except SE) optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The GLB doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Santa Fe has a 2000 lbs. towing capacity. The GLB has no towing capacity.

Standard Trailer Sway Assist on the Santa Fe uses the Electronic Stability Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The GLB doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

The Santa Fe Calligraphy has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction 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.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe’s headlight performance “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 Santa Fe has standard extendable sun visors. The GLB doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the Santa Fe to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The GLB doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

Both the Santa Fe and the GLB offer available heated front seats. The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the GLB.

The Santa Fe Limited/Calligraphy’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The GLB’s automatic parking system does not offer parking by remote control.

Insurance will cost less for the Santa Fe owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Santa Fe will cost $1155 less than the GLB over a five-year period.

The Santa Fe will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Santa Fe will retain 51.18% to 51.49% of its original price after five years, while the GLB only retains 46.13% to 48.36%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Hyundai Santa Fe will be $3482 to $13689 less than for the Mercedes GLB.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Hyundai Santa Fe, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Mercedes GLB isn't recommended.

The Hyundai Santa Fe outsold the Mercedes GLB by over five to one during 2022.