Mercedes GLB SUV - Reliability & safety

Not only is the Mercedes GLB a new model, it also uses the latest raft of Mercedes technology, most of which was only launched with the latest A-Class. This newness means safety is much easier to assess than reliability, with the GLB already excelling in Euro NCAP crash-testing.

Mercedes GLB reliability

It might come as a surprise given its size, but the GLB is actually based on the same architecture as the Mercedes A-Class, and it also uses many of the same components and engines. Manufacturers like Mercedes and the Volkswagen Group have designed 'scalable' platforms to cut manufacturing costs that can be stretched in proportions to sit under everything from a family hatchback to a seven-seat SUV, without having to design everything from scratch. Hopefully this thinking will also result in improved reliability for buyers, because in our 2022 Driver Power survey, Mercedes finished a lacklustre 23rd out of 29 manufacturers, with 27% of cars suffering a fault within the first year. The GLB didn’t feature in our survey but the GLA-Class finished in 58th place out of the top 75 cars, with a solid result for build quality and reliability.

Safety

Independent crash-test experts Euro NCAP awarded the Mercedes GLB the full five stars in 2019, giving it strong scores across the board. It received 92% and 88% for adult and child occupant protection respectively, along with an impressive 78% in the Vulnerable Road Users category.

Standard safety kit includes a driver fatigue monitor, autonomous emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and active lane-keeping assist to help keep the GLB from wandering out of its lane on the motorway.