Mercedes GLA hybrid reliability & safety rating
The GLA 250 e hybrid is likely to be safe, although Mercedes’ recent reliability is in question
| Euro NCAP | Adult protection | Child protection | Safety assist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 stars (2021) | 96% | 90% | 75% |
Mercedes finished a disappointing 25th out of 32 manufacturers in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. This puts it ahead of Audi (30th), but behind the majority of mainstream brands.
On the safety front, there's better news: in July 2021, Euro NCAP applied the Mercedes B-Class' five-star crash-test result from 2019 to the GLA, as the two cars are very similar under the metal.
Mercedes GLA hybrid reliability & problems
The new GLA hasn't been on sale long enough for any problems to be made obvious – but we can take lessons learned from the A-Class, a car that's mechanically similar and has been on sale for longer. It finished 39th out of 75 cars in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, with good scores across the board. It's safe to assume that the GLA will return a similar figure.
Safety
The GLA itself hasn't been crash-tested by Euro NCAP, but the organisation declared in July 2021 that the Mercedes B-Class' five-star score from 2019 can also apply to this car, as the two are quite similar under the metal. That means a very impressive 96% rating for adult occupant protection, a 90% score for child protection and a mark of 75% for safety assistance systems.
There's the usual array of top-shelf active safety kit, too. All cars get Mercedes' active brake assist, speed-limit assist, active lane-keep assist and attention assist systems as standard, while top-end Premium Plus cars get adaptive LED headlights and traffic-sign assist. The GLA hybrid also gets an acoustic warning system that alerts other road users to its presence at speeds under 19mph when running in electric mode.
