Flash for less cash

The Lexus IS250's cabin layout may be a tad plain, but the materials and build suggest quality. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

What is a luxury car? Is it defined by cost, or by brand? The Euros weren't happy when HSV's $103,090 Grange won the 2008 AA Motoring Excellence Awards luxury category, in part because it delivered lavishly in terms of power and space at a low price for the category.

Whether Holden builds a luxury car may be arguable, but a Euro badge alone won't cut it. Skodas and Peugeots are Euro, and start out affordably. Even the trad Audi, BMW and Mercedes triumvirate can't claim the high ground. Their entry cars arrive at Toyota Camry price points.

You could argue specification is key, but service has to get a look-in. And that makes this $69,990 IS250 a luxury car, despite its sub-100k position.

Lexus has rather a boring image, notwithstanding its techie rep. Build quality's rock-solid too, but the brand generally lacks handling credentials and only one is sexy - the ISF.

That has the stonking Yamaha-developed V8. But it also has the IS underpinnings that supply a handling equation valued by the import fraternity under the Altezza badge.

For this car has a sweet-handling chassis with the dynamics of a rear-driver. It's more than happy to be hurled through a demanding set of bends, where you can make the most of the relatively limited power on offer from the 2.5-litre V6 engine. Luckily the fuss-free six-speed auto also offers manual shift via steering-wheel-mounted paddles. I chose to view the tacho's optional light show; as revs rise the dial's ringed in orange - the cue to change gear. That's just one of a host of nice details. The cabin layout may be a tad plain, but the materials and build suggest quality. Then there's the contrast stitching for the seats, the little details you can select, the standard of even the entry-level sound system, with its 13 speakers.

But it's what happens if something goes wrong that really impresses. Quite apart from the four-year warranty, which includes free servicing and a free set of tyres if needed, you can call a Lexus personage 24 hours a day. I tried it over a holiday weekend once; yes, a real human answers the phone and tries to sort you out.

You expect that level of service from the top-spec cars, with their stereotypical ageing drivers dithering over the buttons and dials. Not from a sub 70k model.

Late last year Lexus cut the IS250 range to two, the line between standard car and Limited blurred by the extended options and packages list. You can tailor your buy, pay only for what you want, and know your neighbour's unlikely to own the same configuration.

Or the same car; the slightly more characterful Mercedes and BMW equivalents outsell it two to one.

Lexus IS250

We like
Handsome body, sweet handling, build quality and unbeatable 24-hour service response

We don't like
Conservative cabin, limited rear seat space, could use more power

Powertrain
2.5-litre quad-cam V6, 153kW at 6400rpm, 252Nm at 4800rpm, six-speed auto drives rear wheels

Safety
ABS, stability control, traction control, hill start assist, vehicle dynamics management, seven airbags

What it's got
16-inch alloys, front and rear fog lights, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate-control air

Vital stats
4585mm long, 398-litre boot, 65-litre tank