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The water cooled turbos last much longer than the older ones that were cooled only by oil. Lifespan depends considerably on whether the turbo was allowed to cool and spooldown for a minute before turning the car off. Well maintained turbos can go 200,000 or more miles. Abused ones can die in 50,000 miles. Most are somewhere inbetween.
I would not replace one unnecessarily as preventative maintenance, but if I had the turbo off for some reason at 100,000 miles (head gasket, head, exhaust manifold, etc.), I would probably spend the $300 it typically costs to have a turbo rebuilt. That way, I would avoid paying again for the much of the same labor. Numerous turbo rebuilders advertise in Turbo Magazine and there are others that are competent and advertise in local yellow pages and probably primarily rebuild truck turbos but could do a T03 or TD 04 or T25 or TD05.
I bought s sport compressor turbo from Turbo City in CA, had it rebuilt by United Turbo in Spofford, NH, 120,000 miles later because I had the exhaust manifold off to replace studs, and bought one custom T3/T4 turbo from Turbonetics. There are many reputable rebuilders and a fe wthat specialize in performance units.
Philip Bradley
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