well, the time has come for my poor saab... l was quoted 1600 to fit a new turbo into my 99 9-5. im sort of an idiot in this area and l was wondering if this is at all reasonable? thanks :)
its a 4 cylinder, including parts and labor...

Try a smaller garage their overheads are far less and so they charge far less. What l would do if it was me l will buy one from eBay a good used one will cost around £100 or a new one around £450.00 and take it to a small garage to have it fitted for about £200 just for the labour, that will be under half price for what you were coded.

It depends. Do you have the 4 cylinder or V6? On the V6 $1600 for a turbo is a good deal. l paid $1500 to have the turbo rebuilt on my 9-5 V6. On the 4-cyl it should be about $1000.

Is it including the price of the turbo and labor? Is it a 4 cylinder car or a V6 car that you have? Have the turbo rebuilt,save money instead of buying a new one, you can also search a junk yard in your area or try eBay.
Additional:
A new turbo is about 1000$. Charging 600 $ for labor is gross. Have it rebuilt and installed which will cost you around a total of 1000$, thus saving 600$.