We have owned a RX300 and now have a Pilot. The Pilot is bigger, runs on
regular gas, handles better and costs less to maintain than the RX300. Our
Lexus cost close to $2,000 US in maintenance costs for the first 30k miles.
That with the oil gelling problem, and a recommended belt change at 75k for
$2,000 made it even less attractive to keep any length of time. The Pilot
is around 10-15k less expensive than the new 330.

"Niles Standish" <rwardak@homail.com> wrote in message
news:Sg%Pa.4773$b_4.392@lakeread07...
> I'm shopping for a mid-size/car-based SUV and so far I like the RX 330
> (checked out the Acura MDX, Infiniti FX and Nissan Murano as well). I
have
> yet to see a Honda Pilot (they are not in stock at the local dealer). The
> Honda seems like it's pretty functional and rugged based on what I see in
> reviews and on the Internet. I'm not too crazy about the appearance of
the
> front end on the Pilot though but I imagine I can get some appearance
parts
> to improve that. I haven't seen much in a direct comparison of them.
> Anyone compare these? Thoughts?
>
>