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By Bloomberg

Luxury doesn’t mean luxury anymore in today’s car market.

When you can buy a BMW for $30,000, basically everything is mass.

It’s not a bad thing. It’s just reality.

What it does mean, though, is that in some middling areas - - premium sedans, mid-priced crossovers, entry-level coupes -- there aren’t really any bad cars, just cars with slightly different feels in styling and in how they present their technology.

They’re all relatively efficient, sufficiently quick, virtually maintenance free. All use technologies unheard of 15 years ago, even in six-figure sports cars. When you buy a car in this range, it’s more a question of subtle differences in how you perceive its brand and if you can stand its often blasé physique.

Which brings me to this week’s review, the 2015 Lexus NX200T.

Compliant Comfort

I drove the $34,480 NX around New York City last week, using it for running Christmas errands in the rain, coffee jaunts to Brooklyn, late-night escapades through the Battery Tunnel (that $7.50 toll! Gets me every time) and my daily commute to the Bloomberg offices. I tried to come as close to the suburban life as I could from the center of Gotham.

It performed fine. Which is to say that the most notable things about it were its trapezoidal headlights and triangular taillights. They’re really quite distinct.

In fact, they remind me of that famous ’’Yada Yada Yada’’ episode of Seinfeld.

If you asked, ’’What did you think of the NX?’’

I’d say, ’’The LED head- and taillights were interesting, yada yada yada, I’ll probably never drive it again.’’

And you’d say, ’’But what about how it drives? You skipped the best part!’’

’’Oh, no,’’ I’d say, giving you that look Elaine gave Jerry when, recounting a date, she mentioned the lobster bisque, but yada yada’d what happened in bed right after. ’’I mentioned the lights.’’

Smooth Suburbanism

The NX is the fourth and smallest member of the Lexus SUV family, falling in line below the best-selling RX, the good- looking GX and the giant LX. It embodies a lukewarm version of American suburbanism: plusher certainly than economy SUVs like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, and with more cold weather options and technology upgrades than the Chevrolet Equinox. But it has about as much personality as a dairy cow. (Granted, with better hide.)

The base NX that I drove comes with a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 engine that gets 235 horsepower. (You can also choose from AWD ($35,880), F Sport ($36,580) and hybrid ($39,720) variants.) It will hit 60mph in 7.2 seconds, with a top speed of 124mph, not that you care. Efficiency ratings of 22mpg in the city and 28mpg on the highway earned it Certified Ultra-Low Emission Vehicle status.

It has independent suspensions both front and rear, with power-assisted disc brakes, four-channel anti-lock braking, electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist. All of which are de rigueur for anything that assumes the premium moniker -- and, let’s be honest, this stuff is practically expected for everything else, too. Unlike competitors BMW X3, Audi Q5, and Mercedes-Benz GLK, it lacks a strong drive personality; the six-speed transmission on this base model is automatic and electronically controlled. Paddle shifters are available in higher variants.

It all made for a smooth ride. I felt detached from the road -- from everything outside, actually -- but not in the stolid, royal way permitted in, say, a Bentley. And not in the raw, aggressive way I felt when I drove the BMW X6M. More like in a padded room kind of way.

Can you see how middling this is? Sure, you’re in a nice car -- it has (optional) heated leather seats and an (optional) moonroof, after all. But nice is exactly the tepid word for how you’ll feel when you buy it. It’s just, meh.

Exterior Angles

Buy the NX because you like the styling, not the drivetrain. If you like the styling. That is the main differentiator here.

Start with those (optional) LED headlamps framed by small multiple trapezoid bulbs inside, and the triangle taillights carved out of the back side -- their LED lights illuminate in spears when you press the brakes. A huge Lexus grille leads the eye into scraped-out panels along the side; the front fenders extend widely toward the back in unison. The 18’’ five-spoke alloy wheels and all-season tires that make it more striking are also optional. The overall effect is faintly fantastical, like something out of an off-brand video game made a few years ago in Japan.

Me personally? I don’t like the look. (Could you tell?) It’s gotten mixed reviews from other critics, too, but more importantly I don’t envision the cool mom at school sporting this puppy. She’s more likely to be in the X3.

Interior Intelligence

Inside, I will say, the deep quilted sport seats are very comfortable, and they proffer enormous head- and legroom in the second seat and in the cargo area far behind. (Splurge for the power back door and power-folding rear seats.) The lines through the cabin are clean and roomy; the dash is relatively uncluttered despite the annoying “haptic feedback” touchpad and the small cushioned island just below it that I think is supposed to be a hand rest. I never used the “smartphone- inspired” pad to control the radio or temperature or navigation, defaulting instead to the tried-and-true knobs and buttons on the car’s front panel.

I did, however, appreciate the advanced blind spot monitor, rear traffic alert system and backup camera, which came in handy switching lanes during rush-hour to claim a parking spot outside a studio on the West Side Highway. That blind spot monitor flickers brightly, insistently, for a second and then is gone – it caught the right balance between sensitivity and overkill that many similar sensors can’t seem to find.

The (optional) lie-flat phone charger is a boon for those of us who are addicted to our phones; the (optional) pre- collision system almost certainly staved off a fender-bender when I approached a stalled car too quickly one afternoon in the West Village.

A Passing Grade

Fit and finish, as the car guys call it, gets a passing grade in the NX. It’s more highly evolved than in the $35,095 Acura RDX, with firm seams, two-tone trim and discrete stitching. It feels heftier than the Acura, too, generally on par with the others in its class. But if you want something a little more unique inside, which is also well-made and well- proven, add the Volvo XC60 to your option list instead.

Again, there’s nothing bad about the NX, per se. Lexus has built us a tight, reliable crossover. Nothing wrong with that.

Just don’t buy it hoping for spirit. Or incredible coolness. Or interesting drive.

If you dig those taillights, though, by all means….