I read Mark's post as being the other way around.. first thought I had was it was this: 928 803 243 05

Its a 928 numbered part that only existed in a RHD market (Australia in fact)

 

There are rather a lot of LHD cars in Australia too.. some states allow LHD cars to be registered, so a fair number of Japanese 928's have made their way here (and some US ones).

I think the closest Mark could come is making sure for international orders that the customer is asked specifically whether their car is LHD or RHD before the order is accepted, and then eating the additional cost of inventory, staff training and systems development to support the guys at 928intl being "ambidextrous".

 

Firstly, we like to think that its the LHD drive cars that are odd, regardless of the fact that RHD is in the minority
Secondly, I buy quite a few parts for my various toys from US suppliers and *always* assume the parts are for LHD unless told otherwise. My philosophy is that if you like doing things yourself and import your own parts you need to take a bit of responsibility for what you order. Cheers, Charles 93GTS RHD

 

I just had a look at the "evolution" section of www.landsharkoz.com
This information says there were 1318 928s delivered new in Australia between1978-1995. I would assume there have also been at least that many private imports in both LHD and RHD. HTH Charles 93 GTS

 

Sorry Vilheur, but getting a LHD 928 into Australia is ridiculously easy.

Fill in the application, send it to the appropriate government department with $50 and some ID, and if the car was built before 01.01.89 the only thing you have to do is wait for the import permit.

Licensing / registration is handled at state level (only WA and NT allow LHD), with no "federalisation", just a requirement for an automotive engineer to sign a report that says the car "substantially complies" with the Australian Design Rules in effect at date of manufacture.

 

NZ, for a while, was an entirely different story. LHD was banned altogether. I think they've relaxed things somewhat now though as I'm sure I saw LHD Dodge Ram trucks there in 2006.

 

I am more alert to this now because once I ordered coolant hoses, i had told devek my car was RHD (i did not specify actual part numbers) and one hose turned out to be LHD - they did not know they were different, I got a credit etc but now I make sure to check this out unless I am pretty sure the parts are interchangeable.

At the same time i got a devek radiator and that turned out to be better for a LHD (the outlet for the expansion tank line points in the wrong direction) but we made it work OK.

Having said that, if i tell a vendor the parts are for a RHD, i would hope that they would do their bit and make sure the parts will go on a RHD, even if i was to give the wrong part number, or at least query it.

But if mistakes occur than they can usually be sorted without too much trouble.

 

OK, so now its easy but what was situation in early and mid eighties when largest number of 928's were sold per year? Number of RHD cars made depends on how many were sold new. Once they were done doesn't matter where they end up. Number of cars can only come down.

Looks like 1318 is likely answer. This would make total number around 6000.

4250 UK
1318 Australia
100 Japan
100 New Zeeland
100 South Africa
200 all other RHD markets
----
6068 total

 

I guesstimate the total number of new RHD 928's that ever entered South Africa to be in the hundreds, and the imported US LHD's to be in the 1,000 range. With import and tax, these cars were in the league of the super-rich.

 

I would say due diligence on the vendor's side would be prudent. If they have a specific part number then hopefully they know what they want. If they name the part I would hope that the vendor would ask some pertinent questions.

Part of my job is telling my customers what they need and how to go about getting it. That is the service part of your business.

Having said that, if during discussions I saw that is was my fault I would pay the recovery costs (shipping), and if it wasn't I would ask that they correct the issue.

For example if I ordered online for next day air and it went ground, I would expect them to take it back and give full refund and pay for the shipping both ways.

Especially in your specialized business there would be, imho , a larger percentage of your knowledge being used to get all details correct.

Each situation would be unique. Don't think you could write a corporate policy on it. But that is just me.

(after re reading that I think I was going for ambiguous. How'd I do?)

 

center console
shifter handle
shifter plate
cassette box top
hinge
under dash trays
ebrake cover
mirror bases
headlight lenses

 

I read it as Mark asking our honest opinions ...

 

Yes I do agree if we were talking on the phone we should ask if the car is RHD but the person in question ordered online. Those orders go straight to shipping and you can't expect them to question what the customer ordered. I guess I could have a salesperson review each order and ask themselves does the customer know what he wants or needs or should we intervene.

 

That is true. I like to know the expectations of my customers.

 

Hi Mark

I had this problem recently when I ordered a Brake Master Cylinder from the US ...(about a third of UK price)

I never gave it a thought about being handed..but they are...the middle outlet comes out of the wrong side, all I had to do was make up a bridging pipe about 5 inches long...and all was fine.

IF I had decided to send it back, I would have considered MYSELF responsible for the extra carriage BOTH ways as basically it was my fault for not telling the supplier (who I wont name as I was perfectly happy with their service ,both before and after)

On the other hand, if I had SPECIFIED the 928 was RHD ...I think that would be down to them as far as extra carriage is concerned....

All the best Brett