Identifying turbo faults before buying

Rob
Why not talk to a Turbo dealer and ask them how much it will cost?
If you want to put trust in the Turbo get it overhauled after you buy the vehicle
Look for oil in the exhaust pipe after the turbo, take the air inlet hose off and check for end float, look in the air outlet for signs of oil or dirt
E-mail them Denco Diesel and Turbo
They should be able to help or try someone in your home state

Richard

With most turbos you can access them quite easily by just removing the rubber intake hose that goes from the air box into the turbo. You can then actually put your hand in the turbo and see if there's any play and work out if the bearings are stuffed or not.
Noises, there should'nt be much. If there is a snorkel on the vehicle you may here some whistling comming from there which is ok, but you don't want any bearing whining kinds of noises. A worn turbo can even sound as harmelss as a belt slipping. If there are any unsual noises, eliminte them, don't just think, oh that's just an idler pully on the air con, make sure you solve it and make sure the noise dissapears.
When you boost the turbo (accelerate) you should'nt here much from the turbo, a small whistle is ok, but not too much.

Thanks for the input everyone. Very useful info.

Rob