the life expectancy of the turbo will be largely decided on the PO and if its water cooled or not (some say mitsubishi turbo's are better than garrett as well)...

the key to turbo longevity is (a) water cooling (you can tell this by trracing the pipes going to the turbo...) (b) sevicing (i.e. religious oil changes) and letting the turbo cool properly after hard driving...

the service histiry is easy (its there or it isnt..) the cooling down is more difficult...

the costs in turbos come from 2 items...the turbo and the pipes...believe it or not a new set of pipes (i.e. the big rubber ones) can cost almost as much as a turbo...and a failing turbo will cover the pipes in oil rotting them out...

I have 940 with a failing turbo (oil seals going) and am looking at a rebuild (i can get one done locally for £200 ($350 ish) ) and its supposed to be about 8 hours labour....)

I would strongly suggest that before you buy a turbo you inspect the inside of the air tubes for oil...a hazing is ok, but if you pull th silicon output tube off the turbo and there is any liquid oil in there you will need a recon/new turbo before long...also check the tubes for sihgns of mushyneess....

now thats not to say it still wouldnt be a good buy - just needs price to be right (i.e. haggle!) In a way i would prefer to buy one with a turbo on the way at the right price on the grounds that turbo's rarely go much above 100k so your looking at replacing one sometime anyway..so if you can negotiate the price why not do it now....

I would NOT buy a non water cooled turbo car (ok i know you can convert..but y bother)

also with turbo cars you need to be aware of stress on th transmission (i.e. really check it) and also the fuel consumption (circa 20MPG)

I have a turbo 940 (91 model) and love it to bits - wouldnt consider a NA after owning this...its just so nice to drive and eats mostthings on the road for breakfast if im in the mood...

but it is expensive to run, both in fuel and maintenance - but i bought it at the right price and i figure im catching up maintenance form po neglect...oh well