Rad hose
 

Just had the top rad hose split on my 2000 classic turbo 69000 miles,anyone else had this or just genaral ware?

just ware mine went at just over 112,000 mls

I just read in another thread about the sides of the rad splitting on classics,how common is this?

Split hoses just general wear and tear.

Split rads (classic cars)........well its certainly happened to mine a few years ago. All started with a very small hair line crack which over the following weeks got progressively worse bulging up. I replaced my rad for a new one.
If this should happen to your rad in the future don't be tempted to use a rad weld of sorts. This will give you more grief than its worth in the long run blocking water gallerys and hose runs, causing over heat.

Mine just went too - on Friday! 110,000 miles.

Had this happen at around to 50,000 mile mark - replaced with Nissen's item from the now defunct Midland Impreza :( at the usual fraction of main dealer price...