Mercedes GLB 2021 - Should You Buy One?

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The Mercedes GLB delivers to the market the first properly practical mid-sized SUV from the Three-Pointed Star. There's enough room for seven seats, enough capability for light off road excursions and enough of a premium feel to make other class rivals feel rather low rent. In short, it's a potentially appealing package.

Market and Model

Pricing starts at around £34,000 and there are four trim levels - 'Sport', 'AMG Line', 'AMG Line Premium' and 'AMG Line Premium Plus', with prices in the mainstream range rising up to around £46,000. Generally, you have to have seven seats, though Mercedes does offer a single five-seat GLB 220d 4MATIC model with mid-range 'AMG Line Premium' trim and a price tag of around £42,000. Think in terms of over £50,000 for the top high performance Mercedes-AMG GLB 35 4MATIC variant.

All mainstream models are well equipped. Even entry-level 'Sport' variants come as standard with 18-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, the 'Dynamic Select' driving mode system and LED headlights and tail lights. Plus across the range you get a 180-degree reversing camera, aluminium roof rails, two-zone Thermotronic climate control, heated front seats and Artico man-made leather upholstery. Infotainment includes a DAB tuner, a six-speaker/100 watt sound system, a seven-inch digital cockpit display and seven-inch touchscreen media display, the MBUX multimedia system and 'Hey Mercedes' voice activation. Plus you get Mercedes me connect (which includes emergency call system (eCall), accident recovery, breakdown management and maintenance management).

Standard safety and assistance equipment includes Active Brake Assist, Active bonnet, Active Lane Keeping Assist, Attention Assist, Speed Limit Assist, and Keyless-Go locking and unlocking.

Cost of Ownership

The engines used here deliver decent returns in other Mercedes compact models, so we'd expected the same from the GLB - which is broadly how it turns out. The base petrol GLB 200 manages a 47.1mpg WLTP-rated combined cycle reading, plus a 138g/km NEDC-rated CO2 emissions reading. For the GLB 200d diesel, the figures are up to 56.5mpg and 133g/km in 2WD form, or up to 51.4mpg and 145g/km as a 4MATIC. The GLB 220d 4MATIC diesel manages 51.4mpg and 146g/km of CO2.

As you'd expect, the Mercedes after-care package is comprehensive, with a three-year unlimited mileage warranty that's matches BMW. This is built upon by Mercedes' Mobilo scheme which delivers breakdown cover for up to thirty years, as long as you continue to have your car serviced at a Mercedes main dealer. Ah yes, maintenance. As usual with one of the Stuttgart brand's models, there's an ASSYST PLUS dashboard service indicator that monitors engine use and tells you exactly when a garage visit is due. Fixed price servicing is available across the range and most buyers opt for the Mercedes ServiceCare plan that could cost you as little as about £28 a month based either on a two-service/two year deal, three years with three services or four years with four services.

Summary

At first glance, you might think the GLB an unnecessary further addition to the Mercedes SUV line-up. After looking closely at what it has to offer, we've ended up concluding that going forward, it's likely to be a vital part of it. The brand has never before offered a car in this class that's really practical for a growing family, yet remains reasonably affordable. This is it.

Are there issues? Well probably, you could pay slightly less and get a slightly bigger seven-seat SUV in this class from a volume brand but after trying a GLB, we think you may not want to. It has a premium, desirable feel that cars like SEAT's Tarraco, Skoda's Kodiaq, Hyundai's Santa Fe and even Volkswagen's Tiguan Allspace struggle to match. And the interior technology of those cars seems rather yesteryear compared to the cabin media tech on offer here. You probably won't have started off wanting a GLB in this class. But take a look at one and, if you're prepared to pay a slight premium, you could find it a difficult package to overlook.

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