Compare the2024 Volvo XC90VS 2023 Mercedes GLE

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Volvo XC90 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 GLE doesn’t offer height-adjustable middle seat belts.

Both the XC90 and GLE have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The XC90 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 GLE’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.

The Volvo XC90 offers an optional built in child booster seat. It’s more crash worthy than an added child seat because of its direct attachment to the seat. Mercedes doesn’t offer the convenience and security of a built-in child booster seat in the GLE. Their owners must carry a heavy booster seat in and out of the vehicle; XC90 owners can just fold their built-in child seat up or down.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the XC90 deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The XC90’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The GLE’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

The XC90 has a standard Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WHIPS allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. At the same time the pretensioning seatbelts fire, removing slack from the belts. The GLE doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The XC90 has standard Post-impact braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The GLE doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The XC90 has standard CTA Auto Brake that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The GLE doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the XC90. But it costs extra on the GLE.

The XC90’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 GLE.

Both the XC90 and the GLE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear 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 and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Volvo XC90 is safer than the Mercedes GLE:

	XC90	GLE
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Compression	.4 inches	.4 inches
Neck Injury Risk	31%	31%
Neck Compression	25 lbs.	31 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	383/334 lbs.	401/438 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Volvo XC90 is safer than the Mercedes GLE:

	XC90	GLE
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.7 inches	.7 inches
Hip Force	255 lbs.	287 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	94	103
Spine Acceleration	40 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	608 lbs.	677 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	209	264
Spine Acceleration	29 G’s	35 G’s
Hip Force	383 lbs.	615 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the XC90 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The GLE has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

The XC90’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the GLE’s (12 vs. 5 years).

Volvo pays for scheduled maintenance on the XC90 for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Volvo will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Mercedes doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the GLE.

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Volvo vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Volvo 10 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

Engine

The XC90 T8’s 2.0 turbo/supercharged 4-cylinder hybrid produces 7 lbs.-ft. more torque (523 vs. 516) than the GLE 580’s optional 4.0 turbo V8 hybrid.

As tested in Motor Trend the XC90 B6 2.0 turbo/supercharged 4-cylinder is faster than the GLE 350 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder:

	XC90	GLE
Zero to 60 MPH	6.7 sec	7.6 sec
Quarter Mile	15.1 sec	15.8 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	90.4 MPH	87.5 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the XC90 running on electricity gets better mileage than the GLE:

			MPGe
XC90
	AWD	T8 Electric Motor	59 city/57 hwy
GLE
			MPG
	RWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/25 hwy
	AWD	3.0 turbo 6-cyl. Hybrid	20 city/25 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/24 hwy
		4.0 turbo V8 Hybrid	16 city/21 hwy

On the EPA test cycle the XC90 running its gasoline engine gets better mileage than the GLE:

			MPG
XC90
	AWD	2.0 turbo/supercharged 4-cyl. Hybrid	26 city/27 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/27 hwy
		2.0 turbo/supercharged 4-cyl.	20 city/26 hwy
GLE
	RWD	2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/25 hwy
	AWD	3.0 turbo 6-cyl. Hybrid	20 city/25 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/24 hwy
		4.0 turbo V8 Hybrid	16 city/21 hwy

The XC90 T8 Extended Range can travel with zero emissions for 33 miles. The GLE can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

The XC90 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 GLE doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the XC90’s standard front brake rotors are larger than those on the GLE:

	XC90	GLE
Front Rotors	13.6 inches	13 inches

The XC90’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs standard on the GLE 350 are solid, not vented.

The XC90 stops much shorter than the GLE:

	XC90	GLE
70 to 0 MPH	167 feet	174 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	113 feet	130 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	137 feet	138 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The XC90’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 35 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the GLE 450’s optional 40 series tires.

Suspension and Handling

The XC90’s front to rear weight distribution is more even (51.7% to 48.3%) than the GLE’s (53.5% to 46.5%). This gives the XC90 more stable handling and braking.

The XC90 B6 Core handles at .85 G’s, while the GLE 350 4MATIC pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The XC90 B6 Core executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.4 seconds quicker than the GLE 350 4MATIC (26.8 seconds @ .65 average G’s vs. 28.2 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the XC90 has a greater minimum ground clearance than the GLE (8.8 vs. 7.9 inches), allowing the XC90 to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The XC90 w/Air Suspension’s minimum ground clearance is .7 inch higher than on the GLE Airmatic (9.9 vs. 9.2 inches).

Passenger Space

The front step up height for the XC90 is 4.2 inches lower than the GLE (15.8” vs. 20”). The XC90’s rear step up height is 4 inches lower than the GLE’s (16” vs. 20”).

Cargo Capacity

The XC90’s cargo area provides more volume than the GLE.

	XC90	GLE
Third Seat Folded	35.6 cubic feet	n/a
Third Seat Removed	n/a	33.3 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	85.7 cubic feet	74.9 cubic feet

The XC90’s cargo area is larger than the GLE’s in almost every dimension:

	XC90	GLE
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	21.8”/49.6”/80.3”	n.a./40”/76.5”
Max Width	54.7”	n/a
Min Width	44.5”	43.7”
Height	35”	35.5”

The XC90 has a standard third row seat which folds flat into the floor. This completely clears a very large cargo area quickly. The GLE doesn’t offer seats that fold into the floor.

Towing

A Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) is standard on the XC90, using the Dynamic Stability and Traction Control sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. A trailer sway program costs extra on the GLE.

Ergonomics

Heated windshield washer nozzles are optional on the XC90 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The GLE doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

To improve rear visibility by keeping the rear window clear, the XC90 has a standard rear fixed intermittent wiper with a full on position. The rear wiper standard on the GLE only has an intermittent setting, so in a hard rain visibility isn’t as good.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The XC90 offers available headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The GLE doesn’t offer headlight washers.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the XC90 is less expensive to operate than the GLE because it costs $10 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the XC90 than the GLE, including $304 less for a muffler, $92 less for front brake pads, $54 less for a starter, $164 less for fuel injection, $143 less for front struts and $106 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

The Car Book by Jack Gillis recommends the Volvo XC90, based on economy, maintenance, safety and complaint levels.

Motor Trend selected the XC90 as their 2016 Sport Utility of the Year. The GLE has never been chosen.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the XC90 as the 2016 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. The GLE has never been chosen.