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Depth and consistency across all areas of judging has handed the Lexus IS250 its second consecutive best-in-class gong.

The ABC program switched to a 10-point scoring system two years ago in a bid to separate some of the close calls in scoring. Last year, Subaru's Liberty had to play second fiddle to the new Lexus IS250 in the prestige car class, after being pipped at the post.

After the scores in the 19 criteria were totalled this year, it was case of déjà vu: the Lexus got the Liberty again - just.

A glance down the score sheet sees honours almost evenly divided between these two, but importantly the Lexus equalled or bettered the Liberty in the critically weighted criteria that give full value points: build and finish quality, ride comfort, and smoothness and quietness - all traits nominated by luxury car buyers as being of prime importance in their purchase decisions. Ever since the Lexus brand emerged in Australia, the marque has sought to play in the main game against heavy hitters from Europe, especially Germany, and the smaller IS Lexus versions wanted to take on the 3 Series BMW, among others.

So, build quality has always been good, the equipment levels impressive and the overall drive impression pleasant.

While in some quarters still not accepted as a BMW competitor, the Lexus brand and the IS in particular has won many friends (and owners). This particular model has helped the company to achieve record local sales.

The package was good enough to take out the award for Best Prestige Car last year, and it's done it again.

Package is the operative word. Unlike some of its competitors, which have the luxury goodies but as significant 'extra cost' options, the Lexus is impressively equipped.

You would be hard-pressed to find any of the modern safety and convenience features not fitted as standard in this car. Standout features include eight airbags, traction/stability control, keyless ignition, electric fold-away mirrors, a 13-speaker sound system and the nifty "light sabre" instrument illumination.

And in the upmarket Sport or Sport Luxury models, you get a Mark Levinson sound system, reversing camera and sonar parking assistance. The 2.5 litre, quad-cam, V6 engine is the smallest of the three finalists, giving away half-a-litre capacity to the Liberty and full 1000cc to the Honda Legend, so it's not surprising it scores lower on performance. That said, it's wonderfully smooth and quiet and performs adequately, thanks in no small way to the excellent six-speed auto transmission. And it's streets ahead of the others on fuel consumption and environment scores.

Good grip, communicative steering and balanced, predictable handling give it a high score here, on par with the all-wheel-drive Liberty. Four doors assist easy entry and egress to the rear pews, but unfortunately the rear passenger space is the Lexus's worst feature, resulting in its equal lowest score on the chart (along with running and repair costs). Again, the depth and consistency of the IS250 across the criteria - the critical ones especially - allowed the Lexus to retain its title.

Finalists
Subaru Liberty 3.0R
Honda Legend

Previous Results
2007 - Lexus IS250
2006 - Lexus IS250