Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class Estate (2014 - 2020) practicality

• Passenger space isn’t as good as rivals…
• But at least the boot space is on par
• A more upright tailgate would have boosted practicality

The Mercedes-Benz GLA delivers reasonable levels of practicality, although it’s not the car’s strongest suit. Access is still on the tight side, but the rear doors open to a wider angle than the A-Class, which makes fitting child seats easier.

The same can be said when you’re sitting there, with the chunky front seat backs eating into knee space and the small windows adding to the claustrophobic feeling. It’s cramped if you have someone who’s 6ft or taller in the front, and unlike all of its SUV rivals, headroom is tight back there. This is the compromise you have to make by choosing an SUV like this that's based on a hatchback. That said, legroom still betters the Audi Q2.

The optional panoramic roof fitted to our test car at least made it feel less claustrophobic, but it’s worth noting that it reduces headroom a little for taller rear passengers. We do like the myriad storage options in the GLA, including under-seat drawers, cubbies in the centre console, and large door pockets, however.

Will the Mercedes-Benz GLA fit in my garage?

A compact footprint carried over from the A-Class hatchback means the GLA gives you a high-rise viewpoint without dominating white lines to the left and right when it comes to parking.

Storing this car in a garage should be no more problematic than an ordinary five-door hatchback, although it’s worth bearing the extra height in mind if you have an unusually low roof.

Will my luggage fit in the GLA?

The boot isn’t enormous, its volume partly compromised by the sloping angle of the rear window, but it is larger than that of the A-Class hatchback (481 litres versus 341), as well as rivals such as the Audi Q2 and BMW X2. It also includes a 12V socket and useful tie-down points as standard.

An extra 60 litres of boot volume can be freed up by adjusting the angle of the rear seat backs, which can be placed in a more upright position if required. It’s also possible to fold them down in the usual way to expand luggage space to 1,235 litres of overall volume. Usefully, when the seat backs are folded down the load area is almost completely flat.

Folding down the middle arm-rest in the rear seats reveals a small through-load hatch for long but narrow items, fitted as standard to all GLA models. There’s also a further 12V socket behind the front seats.

Mercedes-Benz GLA safety

• Five-star score in the Euro NCAP crash tests
• Strong adult and child occupant protection
• Range of additional safety kit available

When Euro NCAP crash tested the Mercedes-Benz GLA it rated it as a five-star car – unsurprising when you consider that various active safety systems are available for the GLA.

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As standard it’s fitted with Attention Assist, which monitors the driver’s steering inputs and sounds a warning if they show signs of drowsiness, and autonomous emergency braking (named Active Brake Assist), which can apply the brakes automatically if absolutely necessary in an emergency.

Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control, where the GLA autonomously varies its speed to keep a constant distance from traffic in front, is a further optional extra, as is a blindspot monitoring system. On the road, electronic stability control keeps the car safe and stable when cornering.

Safety recalls for Mercedes-Benz GLA

The Mercedes-Benz GLA has been subject to five safety recalls since production began in 2014 - which you can read about in the reliability section of the review.

Euro NCAP crash test video