Cosmo Kramer

Sorry Ledee, but you sound like a dumba55 comparing Porsche part prices to Ford. You have lots of car experience, what did you expect?

Our venders here have done an excellent job of minimizing cost to the owners here but at the end of the day they are still Porsche's. Why do you think 928's that need tons of work go cheap? Not because they can be fixed up for next to nothing, its because people bought them that didn't have the financial resources to do proper maintenance and just let them get run down. Now the next guy (you) has to catch up on that maintenance and it isn't cheap especially when you have to do a ton of things all at once.

James Bailey

This is a technical discussion forum designed to help people fix repair and improve their 928. The price of replacement parts is a fact of life not really much to gain by editorializing about how they are too expensive compared to some throwaway mass produced domestic car. By using the venders on this site you can save a great deal compared to buying at the Porsche dealer. And yes Porsche is quite proud of the FACT that they are the most profitable car company in the world !! Perhaps when you build the best you deserve to be rewarded for it !!
One of the reasons why old 928s are so cheap is the fact that repair costs and parts are not inexpensive. I often have commented about how some old 928 listed for sale is $10,000 away from being a $5,000 car.
There is a condo for sale here in California in a retirement community which can be purchased for $1 , yes one dollar and you get a $1,000 paint and carpet allowance on close. The down side is the $1,700 per month association fee, but does include meals and maid service
I think everyone here would like to see you get both of your cars up and running but as 928 owners we all already have a pretty good understanding of the costs involved.

upstate bob

-another reason I bought my 79. Those k jetronics are super reliable. I had an 86 Golf with the same system and it was bulletproof. I only got rid of it when the body rotted away. Engine was still purring like new at 180K. sad, but I didn't have time to resurrect the old girl. Early model 928s are great, no valve interference, K-jetronic, regular gas, fewer electronic options to fail.

Alan

Well you'd better get used to it - anything you can compare that isn't a generic consumable will be significantly more expensive - dumbass or not - thats just the way it is. If you've really had that many Porsches you should know this to be true already...

By 'out-perform' I assume you mean - its faster... There are other definitions of out-perform that should not be lost on you as a previous Porsche owner - sometimes its the little things that make driving the car so nice...

If you think the Mustang is a better car - you probably won't enjoy the result of all the effort you need to put in here... think about it - maybe could save a lot of grief.

Alan

ledee416

1) I am not bashing any vendors. I have had nothing but positive and good experiences dealing with the vendors on this site.

2) I am not saying that vendors (here or otherwise) are price gouging.

3) I am saying however that the markup on a part just because it is going in a Porsche is ridiculous. When I compared Ford to Porsche, what I was trying to imply and or state is that a MAF for a mustang is no different in function or form from a MAF for a Porsche. Hence the mark up is unjustified.

ledee416

I definitely Do know it. I have been driving Porsches off and on since I was 23. I am 43 now, going on 16 lol. When I was in college, and something broke in the 944, I was financially crushed. Now it doesnt mean a damn thing to me with regard to actually spending money. It does however, still burn me up just as much to see markups. Sorry if I seem to be bitching, but it is true. Adding a few hundred bucks to the cost of a MAF based on which car it will be put in is bunk.

ledee416

By out-perform, I am referring to acceleration, braking, cornering (when I set it up for that), and every other metric that magazines use to assess car performance. The only thing that my mustang will not out perform a 928 in is top speed. This is due to the gears I am running currently.

I will say however, that the sounds given off by a high revving Porsche motor is some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard.

The performance comment was really more to show that the MAF can not possibly be priced as it is due to some performance edge it would have in its design.

hey, maybe I am wrong. I love my 928's, to me they are some of the most beautiful bodies ever made.

Rob Edwards

While I don't doubt that there might be some element of a Porsche tax, would you be willing to acknowledge that the utter lack of any economy of scale also contributes to the high price? The Bosch part # for the MAF is 0 280 214 001, used on about 11500 US and 16000 ROW 85-95 928;s. This P/N is also used on the E34 M5 3.6, and some hotrod edition of the 1984 Audi Quattro. That's at most 12000 and 200 additional cars that use this MAF.

So the worldwide market for the not-in-regular production-for-more-than-15-years 0 280 214 001 is 40,000 cars. How many Mustangs is Ford squeezing out every month?

Perhaps there are other applications in less expensive cars that don't include the Porsche tax, but if they could be bought cheaper, we'd all be buying them. Perhaps you can find a VW 035 133 471 AC. That shouldn't have a Porsche tax on it.

rbrtmchl

One major difference between a MAF (and many other automotive components) for a Mustang and a MAF for a Porsche has to do with the production volume. A MAF for a Mustang and a MAF for a Porsche each have a custom mechanical housing that is produced using dedicated tooling. This custom mechanical tooling may cost $50,000. If the tooling is used to produce 5,000 units for Porsche, the supplier must amortize this cost over the number of units produced, adding $10 per unit to the cost. If similar tooling is used to produce 50,000 units for a Mustang, the supplier must amortize this cost over the number of units produced, adding $1 per unit to the cost. Repeat this for each custom component in the MAF. Also, there is a significant design and development engineering cost to bring a MAF from concept to production. These engineering costs are roughly the same for a MAF intended to be supplied to Porsche as they are to Ford for a Mustang. Again these costs have to be recovered on a per unit basis. Higher volume production allows for lower costs. It is not a question of markup.

rbrtmchl

Exactly!

James Bailey

Have to smile about magazine article "tests" You do realize they are about as REAL as most reality T V ....The writers usually accept "donated" free parts for the build up and keep them when done, in return the sponsors get mentioned nice things are said, the writer sells the article, the magazine sells magazines, the sponsors sell parts and some people BELIEVE .....But I play Santa Claus so belief is a wonderful thing
I do wish you were closer to Ca , I would love to take you around the track in an old very brown 1980 928 with 198 RWHP......you would be amazed
And if you like the sound of a high reving Porsche engine why did you buy a 928 ??? They were designed and built NOT to rev.....especially the USA 80-84 about all they make over 5,000 RPM is noise !!

dr bob

So, there MUST be a way to jury-rig a mass-market Ford airflow sensor to work in a 928. Anybody? Bueller? Bueller?

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I keep the parts costs in perspective by remembering that I'm buying pieces for a limited-production car that cost $83k in 1989 dollars. In 24 years, the dollar has inflated only about 3x that, so think along the lines of buying pieces for a car that would cost $200k+ in today's puny dollars. I could buy a Ford or a Honda, but then I'd be stuck driving a Ford or Honda.

To the OP:

Find a used MAF sensor, keeping in mind that even a broken one (like yours...) is worth at least $200 as a core. And check your math on buying the new one. $350 rebuild plus $200 core is not $650.