Overview

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 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 231hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

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. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the mpv segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a self-explainatory difference of 50% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Seat does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Seat with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.3 out of 5. The same official information place Altea 10% below average, and R 40% below the first one. Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Spanish car rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Both of the cars accelerate exactly the same, so we couldn't put one above the other. Car No. 2 is faster though, reaching top speed of 222 kilometers per hour, 16km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the Spanish car, averaging around 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 42% difference compared to the German car!

Verdict

Seat is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. 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 significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. From there things take a different direction, with Mercedes Benz being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Seat. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. 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.