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 (4 x 4 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 200hp 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. 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, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the German car offers a potentially life-saving difference of 31% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Seat does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. 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. The same official information place Altea as average reliability-wise, and R is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Spanish car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Seat is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.1 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 214 kilometers per hour, 8km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Spanish car, averaging around 9.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% 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. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.