Compare the2023 GMC Acadia VS 2023 Mercedes GLB

For enhanced safety, the front shoulder belts of the GMC Acadia are height-adjustable, and the 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 Acadia 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 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 GLB doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Acadia’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.

Both the Acadia and the GLB have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and its standard front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 233 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The GLB has not been tested, yet.

GMC’s powertrain warranty covers the Acadia 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 Acadia’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the GLB’s (6 vs. 5 years).

There are over 4 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.

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 Acadia’s reliability 14 points higher than the GLB.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Acadia third among upper midsize suvs in their 2022 Initial Quality Study. The GLB isn’t in the top three in its category.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 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 above average in initial quality. With 27 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 long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes With 3 fewer problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, J.D. Power ranks GMC higher than Mercedes.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks GMC 3 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

The Acadia’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 7 more horsepower (228 vs. 221) than the GLB’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder. The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 89 more horsepower (310 vs. 221) and 13 lbs.-ft. more torque (271 vs. 258) than the GLB’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Acadia’s fuel efficiency. The GLB doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Regenerative brakes improve the Acadia 2.0 Turbo’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The GLB doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the GMC Acadia uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended with the 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder engine for maximum performance). The GLB requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Acadia 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 Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 5.8 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLB (21.7 vs. 15.9 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 GLB doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the GMC Acadia higher (6 to 7 out of 10) than the Mercedes GLB (5). This means the Acadia produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the GLB every 15,000 miles.

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

The Acadia’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 Acadia AT4’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the GLB (255/65R17 vs. 235/55R18).

The GMC Acadia’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 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 GLB doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Acadia 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 Acadia’s wheelbase is 1.1 inches longer than on the GLB (112.5 inches vs. 111.4 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is 1.3 inches wider in the front and 1.3 inches wider in the rear than on the GLB.

The Acadia SLT AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the GLB 250 4MATIC (26.9 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.5 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 GLB 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 GLB doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

The Acadia has 3.5 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, 1.6 inches more rear legroom, 3.8 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.4 inches more third row headroom, .6 inches more third row legroom and 10.5 inches more third row shoulder room than the GLB.

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

	Acadia	GLB
Behind Third Seat	12.8 cubic feet	5.1 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	41.7 cubic feet	22 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	79 cubic feet	62 cubic feet

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

	Acadia	GLB
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	18.5”/48”/83”	n.a./32.5”/71”
Max Width	50”	41.6”
Min Width	42.5”	41.6”
Height	33”	37.2”

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

The Acadia has a 1000 lbs. towing capacity. The GLB has no towing capacity.

The Acadia (except SLE) offers an available heads-up display that projects speed 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 Acadia’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 Acadia 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.

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 GLB doesn’t offer extendable visors.

Both the Acadia and the GLB offer optional heated front seats. The Acadia also offers optional heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the GLB.

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

The GMC Acadia outsold the Mercedes GLB by over two to one during 2022.