At kwik fit now, being lazy and letting them do me an oil service with new tyres and they have confirmed a suspicion I had. There has been oil spitting out of the turbo and out into the air intake pipes. The impeller is rocking back and forth so it's not gone but it's certainly worn down... In the event that I decide to replace the turbo, where should I go for the cheapest price?

And how much is it? Euro car parts is 650 but the mechanic said you could get a turbo for around 350, anybody accomplished this?

I'd have thought 350 would be from a breakers, whereas Euro Car Parts is new. Could always see if you could have it made into a hybid turbo :P though that does cost considerably more >.<

Best is really what you're comfortable with, if you want a new part, but pay twice as much, or as a used but good part for the £350.

At kwik fit now, being lazy and letting them do me an oil service with new tyres and they have confirmed a suspicion I had. There has been oil spitting out of the turbo and out into the air intake pipes. The impeller is rocking back and forth so it's not gone but it's certainly worn down... In the event that I decide to replace the turbo, where should I go for the cheapest price?

And how much is it? Euro car parts is 650 but the mechanic said you could get a turbo for around 350, anybody accomplished this?

The bearing can have a fair bit of "side-to side" movement its the up/down movement - how much is there? (in mm)

It can often be hard to tell if oil is coming from the turbo seals or the engine breather

There are a number of options available - buy a secondhand turbo from the breakers, (from as little as £100) replace the entire turbo with a new one,(expensive) or fit a "cartridge" (often a refurb/ exchange unit) the cartridge is a turbine/ compressor and bearing (in one unit), that fits onto your existing exhaust manifold/ turbine and compressor housing

The VNT/ variable vane mech is in the exhaust manifold housing, if you are changing the cartridge its worth de-cokimg the VNT mech

Well, I had another wave of inspiration yesterday anyway. I have been looking to have an extended warranty on the car, and I can get a year of cover (13 months actually) for £240. The benefit is if anything fails in the service or MOT then that too is covered, and if anything breaks in the meantime, its also likely to be covered... Might be worth more of a shot, then if anything does go bang, then I suppose I stand a chance of being covered.