Saab Repair: white heavy smoke coming from exhaust, coolant level, saab 9000

Question
My 1996 Saab 9000 light turbo began to smoke
while I was stopped at red light. It stops when
car is running at a higher speed.  It seems that
its when it idles.  I have 104,000 miles.
I only want to keep it for 2 more yrs.   If it is the turbo do you sugest a used one. Is an
estimate or $1000 for a new inc labor sound oK?

Answer
Sounds reasonable, turbos are not cheap. Make sure you need one before you replace it, normally they last longer than 100K miles (my '87 has 150K miles, turbo is fine)
Sometimes the white smoke is indicative of a blown headgasket, check your coolant level, is it dropping? If you are going thru coolant, then it's gasket time :(