For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota Land Cruiser 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 GLC has only front height-adjustable seat belts.
The Toyota Land Cruiser has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The GLC doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, Full-Time Four-Wheel Drive is standard on the Land Cruiser. But it costs extra on the GLC.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Land Cruiser’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The GLC doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.
The Land Cruiser’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 GLC.
Both the Land Cruiser and the GLC have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available around view monitors.
The Toyota Land Cruiser weighs 761 to 871 pounds more than the Mercedes GLC. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts.