Compare the2023 Nissan ArmadaVS 2023 Mercedes GLS

For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Armada are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Mercedes GLS doesn’t offer height-adjustable 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 Armada 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 Armada has standard Active Head Restraints, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Active Head Restraints system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The GLS doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Armada has standard Rear Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The GLS doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The Armada’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 GLS.

Both the Armada and the GLS have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

Nissan’s powertrain warranty covers the Armada 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.

There are almost 3 times as many Nissan dealers as there are Mercedes dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Armada’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Nissan vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Nissan above average in initial quality. With 22 more problems per 100 vehicles, Mercedes is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Nissan vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Nissan 9 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

The Armada’s 5.6 DOHC V8 produces 38 more horsepower (400 vs. 362) and 44 lbs.-ft. more torque (413 vs. 369) than the GLS 450’s standard 3.0 turbo 6-cylinder hybrid.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Nissan Armada uses regular unleaded gasoline. The GLS requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

The Armada has 2.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the GLS (26 vs. 23.8 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Nissan Armada’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 Armada 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 Armada S/SV has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the GLS; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

The Armada SL/Midnight/Platinum 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 Armada has standard seating for 8 passengers; the GLS can only carry 7.

The Armada has 1.5 inches more front headroom, 1.6 inches more front legroom, 4.5 inches more front shoulder room, 4.9 inches more rear shoulder room and 10.2 inches more third row shoulder room than the GLS.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Armada’s middle row seats recline, and the Armada Platinum’s third row seats also recline. The GLS’ third row seats don’t recline.

The Armada’s cargo area provides more volume than the GLS.

The Armada’s cargo area is larger than the GLS’ in almost every dimension:

The Armada’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the GLS’ (8500 vs. 7700 pounds).

The Armada’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The GLS does not have an oil pressure gauge.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the Armada 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 Armada is available in both rear-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The GLS doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Insurance will cost less for the Armada owner. The Complete Car Cost Guide estimates that insurance for the Armada will cost $5590 to $6335 less than the GLS over a five-year period.

The Armada will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Armada will retain 44.71% to 46.47% of its original price after five years, while the GLS only retains 41.62%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Armada is less expensive to operate than the GLS because typical repairs cost much less on the Armada than the GLS, including $531 less for a water pump, $172 less for a muffler, $152 less for front brake pads, $208 less for a starter, $278 less for fuel injection, $54 less for a fuel pump, $109 less for front struts and $478 less for a power steering pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Nissan Armada will be $15857 to $31721 less than for the Mercedes GLS.