maxsteam -- Your username on this occasion is very appropriate for this overheating problem. : -- )

A head gasket is a full afternoon's work plus maybe £50 in parts to fix so it is not as major as you might think, provided you don't use a main dealer. You can phone round for quotes but beware of anyone who, once they get the car, opens the bonnet, rubs their chin and tells you that the cylinder head is cracked.

From what you've said, my guess is that their was a leak of coolant (not uncommon with any car that's more than a couple of years old) which would have caused the engine to overheat. As soon as the temperature gauge starts to go up to "red" with no sign of it coming back down, you should stop the engine and investigate the problem immediately. It is not unheard of for drivers to carry a few bottles of water and to top up the coolant several times in order to get home in these circumstances. You should not, however, poor cold water into a hot engine when all the old coolant has gone.

If, once the needle indicates an overheating engine and when you already know that the coolant needs topping up each day, you keep driving for 4 hours, you will have made any problem worse. Hopefully it will be no more than a new head gasket but you need to forget about finding someone else to blame and you need to start looking after your cars.

When you buy a used car you should check the levels of all fluids regularly so that you know roughly which ones need topping up when. Most five year old cars wont need much topping up but you can't be sure of that until you've run the car for a while and checked the levels. You also need to keep an eye on gauges and warning lights while driving. Overheating is more likely when crawling in traffic but it can happen at any time.

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/your-rights-buying-second-hand-cars/second-hand-cars-your-rights/index.jsp

Your statutory rights are not affected, irrespective of whether a warranty was issued or not.... under the sale of goods act you still have the legal right not to expect a problem of this severity during the short period of time you've owned the car.

conmankiller:

Even though you mention no warranty check in this order.

1) Did the dealer supply the car with any written guarantee as part of the contract (they usually carry at least three months, check paperwork).?

2) If not, was an external after-sales used car warranty provided, such as a mechanical failure insurance policy. ?

If not ......

3) Have you asked the dealers if they are willing to rectify the fault for free through "goodwill" or under their legal obligation of the sale of goods act 1979 (as amended). This would apply within the first six months that the car should be expected and reasonably free from major defects, especially the head gasket blowing after such a short period.

4) Failing the above you do have the legal right to hold your finance company equally liable and responsible, if the dealer is not willing to offer to fix this fault.

They did provide me with an agreement, just read through it and it states no warranty supplied which I have signed to say I accepted this. There is no mention of a 3month warranty on the agreement, neither was there any mechanical failure insurance policy provided either.

I didn't ask the dealer if he can provide this repair free of charge because I was aware that I signed the agreement saying 'No Manufacturing Warranty Provided' and didn't want to start demanding things until i have my facts straight as the dealers been great with me since I purchased the vehicle and I don't want to fall out with him

If however I am covered slightly via the Sales of Goods Act i will mention this and see what he says. If he says he isn't wanting to fork out to get the car repaired then I will take it up with the finance company as you have advised.

I will keep you updated on my progress.

In the meantime I would much appreciate some feedback from someone who has purchased a used cars with no warranty included and they went about resolving issues i.e repairs, spares etc

Even though you mention no warranty check in this order.

1) Did the dealer supply the car with any written guarantee as part of the contract (they usually carry at least three months, check paperwork).?

2) If not, was an external after-sales used car warranty provided, such as a mechanical failure insurance policy. ?

If not ......

3) Have you asked the dealers if they are willing to rectify the fault for free through "goodwill" or under their legal obligation of the sale of goods act 1979 (as amended). This would apply within the first six months that the car should be expected and reasonably free from major defects, especially the head gasket blowing after such a short period.

4) Failing the above you do have the legal right to hold your finance company equally liable and responsible, if the dealer is not willing to offer to fix this fault.

Hi

I purchased a used Vauxhall Corsa 04 plate from a dealer on December 16th, this was purchased under a finance agreement for around £3000. Since the purchase I have had 2 minor faults but then came the major one yesterday.

The first fault was a windscreen wiper braking, the dealer happily replaced this for me, the 2nd fault was the gear linkage braking, this makes you unable to change gears effectively. I had to call out a Breakdown recovery team for this who advised me at the time this was a common fault and this part had now been modified on newer versions.

The other day I noticed I was not getting any heat blowing from my car, I then checked to find there was no water in coolant, at first I thought to myself this was my fault and presumed I just hadn't refilled it again. I filled it up again and the heater was working fine. The next day I checked the coolant again to find the water was gone. All I could presumke then is there was a leak somewhere as water shouldn't have to be refilled so quickly.

I then took this down to the dealer who checked it over, after him refilling it a few times and that he hadn't detected a leak that everything was fine and I drove away thinking this had been resolved.

about 4 hours later I have been driving the car and heard funny noise from engine so immediately stopped the car to check it and found that water had emptied and loads of smoke coming from engine, it appears there was a leak in the coolant system which the dealer didn't detect.

I then tried to re-start the car but it wasn't starting and also lots of smoke coming from bonnet.

I went to dealer today to discover that my head gasket was blown, and advised this is costly repair which I would need to pay for there is no manufacturing warranty on the car. To my knowledge this is an expensive repair and after forking 3,000 on a car wouldn't expect this to happen or for me to foot repair bill.

All opinions and advise appreciated as to where I stand