Advice needed about head gasket problem on new mini

mynamesnotdave

Hi,

My girlfriend recently purchased a second hand New Mini from an independent dealer with 6 months warranty.

After a couple of weeks we found that the coolant level would often become very low within a week or two.
We were worried there was a problem and so took it back to the dealer who told us that it's common for BMW engines to need coolant topping up often, and it's likely to be an air lock problem. They flushed the radiator and added new coolant.
Confident that it was normally to constantly top up the coolant on a frequent basis, we did so for several months until it was becoming ridiculous - a few times a week at which point we took the car back to the dealer.
He told us that the head gasket had gone, and that the car was 1 month out of warranty so it would cost £900 to fix.
We believe that they should have spotted the problem with head gasket when we originally took the car back when we were concerned about the coolant level, which would mean the problem occurred when it was within warranty.
They're arguing it was a completely different problem so it's not within warranty.
Can anyone advise please?
Thanks,
Tom

citykid5

i'd say contact your local trading standards.it's ridiculous to say any car would need topping up with coolant on a regular basis,where do the garage think the water was being consumed? if you do have to have the head gasket replaced,then i'd shop around and try to find someone who was independent to take a look at it when it was off,they maybe able to tell if the fault was likely to have been there in the first place.

mynamesnotdave

thanks citykid5 - a second opinion is definitely needed - just not sure how to get it when it's at their garage.