We have been seeing a "Drive-Start Control Malfunction" when we start the care for about a week. It's been happening intermittently and the dealer just came back with the following diagnosis…

"DTC P27137F STORED FOR PRESSURE THE CONTROL SOLENOID D ACTUATOR STUCK OFF. INTERMITTENTLY STICKING OFF, IF LEFT UNREPAIRED, CLUTCH PADS INSIDE WILL CONTINUE BURNING UP AND VEHICLE WILL AT SOME POINT BE LEFT" UNDRIVEABLE."

The recommendation is to replace the transaxle assembly. Price is $10,500.

I'm obviously not paying that nor will I have the repairs done at a dealership. What would you reasonably expect to pay at a retail transmission shop?

We're debating between trading it in as is and getting a new car vs fixing it. I'm having a hard time getting rid of a Lexus with 61,000 miles but I didn't expect to have this issue at this point in its lifespan either. I'm very much on the fence about what to do.

I asked about replacing just the solenoid and making sure the clutch is fine and they're unwilling to do anything other than a full trans swap.

MRB10 said:

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I asked about replacing just the solenoid and making sure the clutch is fine and they're unwilling to do anything other than a full trans swap.

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This is typical. They drop the transmission, replace the suspect solenoid, put it back. Results can be:
1. Everything is fixed.
2. Same issue comes up.
3. Different issue comes up.

#2 and 3 the customer would expect the shop to eat the cost. They're not willing to take that risk. Doing a swap they'd at least have a warranty claim against the transmission rebuilder who would cover their labor cost.

The solenoid may be accessible by just dropping the pan. In which case you could buy the part and pay a shop to replace it with no warranty. Or just drive it until it burns up. Then it would be undriveable and you'd have to replace the transmission anyway.

I'm guessing a little less than half that cost for a used transmission at a reputable shop. Cursory glance at ebay says that used, low mileage RX350 awd transaxles are probably $2800-3500. Not sure how many "book hours" that swap would take.

Call around and get some quotes.

Thanks. We will probably trade it in as is but I'm waiting on a transmission shop to get back to me with a quote.

I'd be interested to know about any positive/negative experiences with Acura dealerships around DFW and would reach out to any contacts people have. My wife is fond of the MDX.