Compare the2024 Hyundai PalisadeVS 2023 Mercedes GLB

Both the Palisade and GLB have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Palisade 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 Palisade 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 Palisade Calligraphy has standard Parking Collision Avoidance Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The GLB doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The Palisade’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 Palisade 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

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 Palisade its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The GLB has not been tested, yet.

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

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Palisade for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai 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 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 Palisade’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 Palisade’s reliability 24 points higher than the GLB.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2023 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Mercedes vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai above average in initial quality. With 13 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 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 Palisade’s 3.8 DOHC V6 produces 70 more horsepower (291 vs. 221) and 4 lbs.-ft. more torque (262 vs. 258) than the GLB’s 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Hyundai Palisade is faster than the Mercedes GLB:

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

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

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

For better stopping power the Palisade’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the GLB:

The Palisade stops shorter than the GLB:

For better traction, the Palisade has larger tires than the GLB (245/60R18 vs. 235/55R18).

The Palisade 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.

The Palisade offers an optional automatic rear load leveling suspension to keep ride height level with a heavy load or when towing. The GLB doesn’t offer a load leveling suspension.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Palisade’s wheelbase is 2.8 inches longer than on the GLB (114.2 inches vs. 111.4 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Palisade is 4 inches wider in the front and 4.4 inches wider in the rear than on the GLB.

The Palisade Calligraphy HTRAC executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the GLB 250 4MATIC (27 seconds @ .63 average G’s vs. 27.5 seconds @ .63 average G’s).

The Palisade has standard seating for 8 passengers; the GLB can only carry up to 7.

The Palisade has 3 inches more front legroom, 5.3 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear headroom, 4.3 inches more rear legroom, 5.9 inches more rear shoulder room, 3 inches more third row headroom, 2.3 inches more third row legroom and 11.4 inches more third row shoulder room than the GLB.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Palisade’s middle and third row seats recline. The GLB’s third row seats don’t recline.

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

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

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Palisade’s second row seats and pressing a button automatically lowers or raises the Palisade Limited/Calligraphy’s third row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The GLB doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

The Palisade has a 5000 lbs. towing capacity. The GLB has no towing capacity.

Standard Trailer Sway Control on the Palisade 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 Palisade Limited/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 Palisade 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 Palisade’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 Palisade has standard extendable sun visors. The GLB doesn’t offer extendable visors.

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

Both the Palisade and the GLB offer available heated front seats. The Palisade also offers optional heated second row seats and the Palisade Limited/Calligraphy has standard heated third row seats to keep all passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Neither heated second nor third row seats are available in the GLB.

Optional air conditioned front and second row seats keep the Palisade’s passengers comfortable and take the sting out of hot leather in summer. The GLB doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats for the second row.

The Palisade Calligraphy’s Remote 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.

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

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Palisade second among upper midsize suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The GLB isn’t in the top three.

The Hyundai Palisade outsold the Mercedes GLB by almost four to one during 2022.