Bought a 52 plate Stilo 1.6 16V two months ago with 29500 miles on the clock.

2 weeks into driving it around and having drawn up a list of "fixes" for the dealer to put right, the worst being very sluggish performance on cold start and loss of anti-freeze/coolant.

Engine was diagnosed to be OK, however a hose was loose found and all was put right.

Several days later I went to refill the screenwash and noticed anti-freeze/coolant was down again.

Called dealer was told to refill and return car in 3 weeks time for further diagnosis.

In the time I had the car I have done 4,000 miles, I travel 110 miles a day to and from work, last week a got a "ping" engine was overheating, luckliy wasn't far from work, so took it easy and checked when I got there, no coolant in tank at all this time, so like the dealer said before, refill and take in for diaganosis.

Got a call to say they had found the Cylinder Head Gasket had failed and car would be off road until cylinder had been repaired/replaced, at dealer's cost.

Now I've found this forum and I've done some reading, I'm worried that I've bought a lemon. What should I expect in terms of damage to the engine for this kind of problem and will it ever be the same again ? Feel like ditching it and getting something else, wonder what other's have to say about it ?

wouldnt expect any damage as such as this should be addressed in the repair. least that covers the cam belt being donr for a bit as well.
though i would moniter temps etc and maybe request the thermostat/radiator is checked to see if they caused the overheating that affected the HG

custard boy said:

wouldnt expect any damage as such as this should be addressed in the repair. least that covers the cam belt being donr for a bit as well.
though i would moniter temps etc and maybe request the thermostat/radiator is checked to see if they caused the overheating that affected the HG

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Thanks for your speedy reply.

It's my 1st car and so far the experience has been dire to say the least.

From day 1 I've noticed a "whiring" noise, especially noticable when engine is switched off.

Curiously when I took the car into a friend's garage he said he suspected the water pump was bad, but this was before we knew the HG had gone, could it be that the HG perished because of this ?

yup if the pump wasfailing to circulate coolant then the engine can overheat. generally hot spots on the cylinder head cause the HG to go,as a result of the overheating.if it makes you feel any better you may actually find the engine will run better if the HG was faulty.
not what you wan with a new car but once fixed then it should be good for a long time,i would mention to the dealer about the water pump as they can examine it while the do the HG.though on such a low mileage car i would assume they would check for what caused it.
never hurts to give them a prod though

Got my car back, but strangely I still have the cold start issue, it's as tho the engine loses all power and grinds to a halt, like as tho driving up a hill in 5th gear, we live at the bottom of a slight hill and this is when it's noticed, also does a wee bit of chugging when started and then settles down after a few seconds.

Can someone else point me in the direction as to what else I should be looking for, is it possble the HG repair has resulted in the engine becoming weaker ? I was told that the head was sent for repair, could a loss of performance be expected as a result of such work ?

I'm not going back to the dealer straight away, think I'll pop it into Reg Vardy's for them to look it over and if it's major I'm returning it to the place of purchase for a replacement vehicle, Arnold Clark that is.