wow
well at least someone's offering a full kit for the starion ;) Mind you, since it's a US kit, i would assume it's for the 2.6L, and the turbo may not be all that well suited to the 2L motor. Perhaps someone with knowledge of ARs and comp trims etc can enlighten us.
i know some people who decided to experiment with cheapy ebay turbos, and their results are mixed. It seems the quality control is the biggest problem. Some of them have been excellent, while others have either blown up, not made enough power, found to be unbalanced, etc.
Their advice: a decent original turbo will last a long while, and an ebay turbo will last a fraction of that time - perhaps a year or two before it shows signs of aging. If you have to get one, make sure it has a warranty - this shows that they hopefully have at least 'some' form of quality control. Since they've been around for a while, and don't seem to be going away, people are buying and using them, which means they aren't THAT bad. That said, the warranty only covers the turbo, not your engine or your safety - since you're going for a cheap turbo, go for a cheap intercooler as well. The intercooler will be the first step to protecting your engine - if the compressor blows, hopefully the bits will get stuck in the intercooler core and not make it to your combustion chambers - so you've damaged a 100 dollar intercooler instead of an engine. None the less, the risk of engine damage is always still there.
Also, remember that you get what you pay for. A kit that costs a grand will fall short of the same kit that costs 5 grand in some way or other. It might be quality, it might be longevity, it might be a multitude of things. Often, however, it's brand name that you're paying for - but behind brand name is research and development - by paying that extra for brand name, you're not only paying for an assurance of quality, you're also paying for continued research and development - something that the cheap chinese copiers will never ever do. I believe Trust went bust recently.. people are buying copies instead of the originals that Trust spent a lot of money developing (yes Nacho, i know that exhaust mani was a Trust item - but people are very much into bling, and stainless is definately more bling than steampipe :P On a side note, bling is another reason people buy brand name, or put brand stickers on their car even though they have no components from that brand..), and as a result, more tuning companies may go under, so this is somethign to ponder when buying imitations.
Don't be discouraged though - the 1 grand kit might be all that you personally need. perhaps you just want a fun toy that you can destroy for a year before "growing up".. or perhaps you have a budget project in mind.. etc.
Also, on a side note, since all the "big" tuning brand names don't cater for the starion, why should we pay extra for their research and development on other cars eh? :?
...sorry... i'll end the rant now..
but i'll say one last thing about the kit that's on offer on ebay.. Under "Installation", they say "We are the parts supplier, not mechanic." meaning they haven't tested this kit on their own cars, and couldn't care less how well it works, and if anything goes wrong, you can expect them to blame the installer. Good luck with it all if you choose to buy it.