Lexus announces IS250C Australian pricing
July 14, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Update: Read our review of the Lexus IS250C.
Lexus has today announced pricing of its new IS 250C which will come to market with three model grades, starting at $79,900* for the entry-level Prestige model.
The Sports and Sports Luxury models will retail for $84,900* and $99,900* respectively.
“The luxury convertible market is highly competitive and IS 250C brings a new look and approach to the segment, one that we believe will resonate with consumers,” said Lexus Australia Chief Executive John Roca. “In this market segment, price is less imperative – IS 250C will be purchased for emotional and personal reasons.
“Lexus however, also adds an element of rationality to that decision – offering a vehicle that is unmatched for its quality, reliability and specification. Since eligibility, Lexus has continually topped customer satisfaction and vehicle quality studies.
“Lexus desire to develop the world’s best vehicles is in our corporate DNA – it’s our own pursuit. In the luxury market though quality, the latest technology and specification is expected and something that isn’t optional – with Lexus, customers get it all standard.
“Unlike our rivals, we’ve long believed that customers need simplicity in their ownership and purchase experience. Lexus achieves this by offering vehicles that are highly specified as standard, which in turn further benefits the customer as we have the ability to offer sharp pricing due to the reduced complexity of our model line-up.
“Customers, after all, are the key here and IS 250C will bring new customers to the brand, but it’s the long term experience that ensures they stay with us.
“Our pricing is not apologetic – it’s realistic, in our relatively short history we constantly make the competition stand up and take notice and the end result is consumers benefit.”
*Pricing is a guide as recommended to us by the manufacturer. They do not include dealer delivery or statutory charges.
Print it: 
Quite a nice looking car, they have got the tin-top design right, looks really nice top up or down. Not 100% sure about the Aurion-ish tail lamps, but they aren’t ugly by any means.
Hopefully it’s a little more spacious in the back than the SC430…
My 78 year old grandad owns a IS250 prestige model and when he got it serviced they tried to sell him one of these lol.
I hope that isn’t Lexus’s target markey with this car xD!
Where did u see the tail lamps. Would like to see them if you could give me some sort of link.
^_^ nice car but in 16 years it will be worth as much as a Barina probably less due to cost of fuel at the time.
I dont see any point spending almost $100k on a car unless its a sports car and keeps some of that $100k value after 16 years.
anyone seen vfacts for lexus this year(down,down,down).nice cars,but pricey(wasn’t the is250 about 56k not long ago)
Sorry but I can’t help thinking that the blue one with the roof up looks exactly like a Focus CC from the A pillar back.
Why wouldn’t you buy a BMW 3 series convert. instead? Easy choice to me…….. (still a nice car but well over priced)
This is one of the worst yet. The back is so square and frumpy, I thought they were meant to look better after this long? The 3 Series is a pretty common choice to make, but I think there’s a pretty good reason for that.
Personally, I’d ditch the tin top and get an A5 cabriolet. If you absolutely have to have a hard top, as with the RX, there are better choices in the segment.
Even the reviews I’ve read so far think the three year old 3 Series is still better.
As far as looks go, the aging W209 CLK still wins every time for me, especially with the pre-MY06 tail lights. You can fit actual people in the back! Sure it is dynamically behind the 3, but unless you get the 63, does it really matter that much? Considering the noise it makes when you dump the loud pedal, I think you may quickly forget. A5 vert would probably be my 2nd choice, as it could double as a snow car with quattro…
Looks Good but RRRRIIIIIIIIPPPPP-OOOOOFFFFFFFF!!!!!
Frontman, I agree that it looks like a Focus CC at the back – ungainly and strangely proportioned. I’m not sure why the designers couldn’t get it right when those of the 3 Series did (and Volvo C70 for that matter)
And when is Lexus going to offer some engine options in the IS?! $20K for the top model against the base seems absolutely ludicrous when it runs the same engine. Why you’d buy this over the similarly priced 325i is beyond me.
Alex Says:
July 14th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
This is one of the worst yet.
Sorry I reckon their SC430 (the Daihatsu Copen Ripp off) is the worst looking Lexus………
pfft… for $79k you can actually get BMW 135i or a 370z roadster both at top of the range.
no need to waste more then a $100k that just looks like a toyota aurion
“In this market segment, price is less imperative – IS 250C will be purchased for emotional and personal reasons.” – John Roca
He pretty much just said that the car will attract pretentious c0cks and hairdressers alike, not a good image for a car like this. I despise those who are going to buy it for the wrong reasons.
Frontman, I meant worst looking hard top convertible yet, for the price anyway. Of course, the SC430 is incorporated in that and I agree; it looks terrible. The problem is though is that you don’t see SC430s everywhere, you will these so you’ll have more reasons to get mad that they didn’t buy a BMW.
Just want to add that for the record, I am not a Lexus hater. It’s just that they either have very good cars, or cars that have little problems that just make one wonder why anybody would ever buy them. I get ticked off over these things.
Dreaaaaaming at those prices. Only Toyota to go near will be the Supra haha
Too dated,too expensive too ugly and too predictable from Lexus…………..so whens the next brain child coming ,let me guess it will be the IS-F convertible to compete with the M3…….how original yawnnnnnnnn !
Get your hand off it John!Lol
Somebody buying a Toyota for Emotional reasons.lol
What’s the real(Japanese) boss got to say?Lol.
I’m not sure it’s as bad as people seem to think, BUT under the current climate (both financially and weather-wise in Melbourne) only the die-hard Lexus drivers will cough up his/her own money to buy one. But then again with the ever-shrinking American market, Lexus will continue to struggle, big time.
Great looking car at a far price! another slap in the face to 3 series! 3 series is to pricey and too ugly this is a good looking car that will sell well in the market for convertables up to 100k,another lexus quality vehicle where’s bmw quality these days??
Figjam, what exactly are you on about?
This is priced almost exactly as the 325i convertible is (when the options are equal) so you can’t say this is good value but the 3 Series isn’t. And considering the reviews so far, it’s not a very hard slap to the 3 Series.
As for quality, well I don’t know where you got the idea that BMWs aren’t good quality. Most motoring journalists seem to think that BMWs build quality is better than Lexus’s or Mercedes’ and they frequently do fantastically in quality surveys. In fact, the 3 Series was recently discovered to be the most reliable car on sale in the UK.
I don’t agree with your opinion of this rather awkward looking machine being better looking than the slightly boring but basically agreeable 3 Series, but that’s your opinion.
Finally, what exactly is a far price?
Riderx your not wrong Lexus are losing sales big time in the states,with BMW outselling them last month.
Figjam what are you on ? How is this a slap in the face for BMW ? BMWs quality is fine ,especially if sales results are anything to go by! 400 Luxus sold last month in Australia………thats a quarter of the Germans sales here.
Whats wrong with Lexus you should be asking!
Looks like a Chrysler Sebring Convertible that has been smashed into a wall [at the factory.. just as they did with the Camry - on which its based]
Oh be fair Wheelnut, it’s not based on a Camry. You know very well that it’s rear wheel drive, just like the best of them. But unlike the best of them, it’s hideously deformed. I actually think that the Chrysler Sebring looks better than this and that is a pretty huge insult to Lexus considering that the Chrysler is one of the biggest mistakes in motoring history. I would obviously prefer the Lexus though because I don’t doubt it’s quality.
I just can’t get over how awkward this thing looks. The person who wrote that it was like a Focus CC was not wrong, except the Focus carries it off much better and has the bargain prices to make it alright. It’s so square and un-sporty looking. I think the normal IS looks good but this is just wrong. It’s going to look ten years old in three as well.
Hello Alex,
I just googled price of 325 convertible in Australia.
It’s 97K. And most customer spend more than 10K for their option as usual.
Meanwhile, Audi A4 convertible start from 77K, but it’s 2L 4cl.
So I guess this Lexus IS 250C’s Australian price is not bad at all.
It’s FR with good Automatic, would be fun to drive car and better than 4cl Audi or Volvo V70.
And BMW is simply over 100k and different price range as Benz.
Where on earth are people getting 135i and 325i convertibles for the same price as this? Certainly not from somewhere legit… You might drive out in a lightly-speced 125i for this money. Price on dad’s lightly-speced 125i convertible was around $80k, no way you are getting the other two for that price.
Tack, if you’ll read again, I wrote when the options are equal. The Lexus is $79,990 for the base model and I’m guessing the price hike for going up in option levels is the same as what it is with the sedan. You would have to spend another $12,000 to get the Sport version, or another $25,000 to get the Sport Luxury version.
Now, the fact is that I don’t think you could really spec a 325i convertible with $10,000 worth of options.
You see, when I first came to Australia, I did the stereotypical thing of thinking “hey, sun – I’ll buy a convertible” and it was the 3 Series I was most interested in mainly because it was new and would hold it’s value (I wasn’t planning on staying very long) and I remember that the 3 Series convertibles come basically fully specced. You really do get almost every box ticked for you and the things you don’t get are the most unnecessary things imaginable. Not small luxuries, just things you would forget were there and would never ever use.
So I think that when the options were equal, the pricing would come out with in $5,000 of each other and when your spending that much already, what does another $5,000 matter when reviewers are already saying that the 3 Series is still better?
I just want to add that I didn’t buy the car in the end, so I am not biased toward the 3 Series.
The base model BMW 325i Auto retails for $90,185.70 inc GST. Just so that we can compare.
Sorry, the proportions are deformed. I don’t doubt the quality will be superb, but looks have to be part of the equation at this price point.
Like others have mentioned already, I’d get the BMW 325i Coupe over the top range Lexus.
Love it or hate it, this car has a waiting list of 3 months here and that was before it was officially announced. It’s also doing very well in the States that they may increase production or already have.
So be prepared to see afew of these around. I personally think it’s ironic for a boring handling IS 250 to be converted into this.
For me I think all entry luxo sedans turned into convertibles are hideous. They all look like crap and are bought mainly by people who have no taste.