Big Car Club - MPV and SUV Forums

Test drove a pd Alhambra this morning, first thing I noticed was the header tank was a little empty, he topped it up and I took out and got it up to temp 10 min run round the back streets at decent speeds, upon return what should I look for, obviously the header tank was still  pressurised after 10 mins waiting,  the car has done 159k has full service history mostly from seat, don't want to buy another head gasket time bomb

Thanks

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Normally a vehicle should never need topping up unless there's a leak or it's blown it out.
Unfortunately a ten minute run around the block won't give an accurate answer, pressure in the system when hot is normal, pressure present when cold is not normal, fluctuating level is not good either also coolant that looks just like water is not a good sign either as it may have been topped up frequently.
If you have any doubts give it a miss.

Chris,

Ended up taking it back out on Wednesday afternoon, through the back streets on to the motorway, as soon as we hit 70mph the temp rose above normal and then stayed between 3/4 and max, needless to say the stop low coolant warning came on and I charged the seller with nursing his car back to the lot.

He phoned me yesterday explaining his mechanic had fixed a sensor maybe (wasn't specific) and he was currently test driving and it was perfect and of course also trying to sell it to me again!


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I think you had a lucky escape, keep looking and testing I'm sure one will turn up.