Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door MPV body style within the same 'MPV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Seat and rear in the case of the Mercedes Benz). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 160hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 231hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

The fact that the Seat got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the mpv segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the German car offers a potentially life-saving difference of 44% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Seat does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Seat, as well as Mercedes Benz, with the same average rating of 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Altea as average reliability-wise, and R is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Spanish car rank it on average as 4.2, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Seat is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.2 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 210 kilometers per hour, 12km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the Spanish car, averaging around 7.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 43% difference compared to the German car!

Seat appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Spanish car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Seat being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Seat. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.