Questions to ask when purchasing a used 16G

[usnsc]

I plan to buy a used 16G. My turbo is on his last breath. My question is...what questions should I ask about the turbo. I dont want to buy a turbo with "no shaft play" and get a trubo...with no shaft play, but broken fins.

 

[dsm4life]

why shell out a few 100 on a used one ? Get a 14B cheap for now and save for a new 16G , just my 2 pennys

 

[joeym4130]

I dunno...its a bit of a gamble if you are buying it online. In person its a different story,

you said the big ones,
shaft play, if either wheels touched the housings, or if the wheels were damaged check for oil leaking into the housings, ask if is smoked at all, maybe mileage on it (although i've seen low mileage turbos in worse condition then others with 2x the use)

 

[mntalon_05]

if ya buy it over the internet, ask for lots of pictures from EVERY angle. The first one i bought off of ebay and the description said slight shaft play. Got it in the mail and the shaft was busted off and the turbine wheel was wedged into the housing. So I waited until I found another one on the classifieds here, got lots of pictures, and when it came in shaft play was average, no oil leaking anywhere, only thing wrong with it was there was the normal cracks around the wastegate flapper, luckily I had the turbine housing out of my junked turbo, so I'm set. hopefully have the car back by the end of next week. Just be careful and good luck!

 

[marcmsj]

i would ask for as many pics as possible and like people said, if it smoked, mileage, if it was turbo timed, how hard it was boosted, etc.

if possible, it would be best to buy from someone that is nearby, that way you could go pick it up.. also references would be nice.