“If a private plane is sold new, the cost is tripled to cover the potential liability that the builder might suffer. “
Source?
Many years ago, I was an engineer working for Honeywell Avionics. We were at the Collins Avionics facility coordinating on a bid proposal. The Collins people told us that the decline in private plan manufacturing started when Mooney was sued for the crash of a plane they’d built thirty years before. The court ruled that because fuel injection was a “known technology” and they’d produced a plane with a carburetor and the carburetor had iced over, that they were liable for damages in the crash. At that point several small builders decided they had unlimited liability and went out of business. As did Mooney. The remaining manufacturers tripled the price of their products to set aside money to pay lawsuits.
It’s impossible to search for cost data when the Internet is focused entirely on selling you something. So, take it or leave it.