[thstone]

Disconnect the electrical connector to the MAS (or MAF) and try to start the car. The ECU will use the factory pre-programmed fuel map and the engine should start and be drivable (although it might run kind of rough). This won't harm anything.

If the engine runs and drives (even roughly) with the MAF disconnected, then replace the MAF. If the engine still won't start, then its not the MAF and you'll have to look elsewhere.

And yes, its fairly common for a car to run perfectly until they don't run at all since many components do not suffer a gradual degradation in performance, but instead fail like a light bulb.