Advice please - replace head gasket, replace engine, or new car?

OwlGirl

Hi,

Hopefully posting in the right place, long-time lurker, infrequent poster!

Looking for some advice or opinions on what to do about my car. Here's the basics:

-Bought a 1.2 Renault Clio (00) last June '14 for €750, head gasket blew in November, had to be towed home, white smoke blowing out of exhaust etc. when started, clutch also needs doing (very high and slipping)

Looking at 3 options now:

Replace the head gasket and clutch been quoted €500 (parts + labour)

Replace the engine and clutch (worried that there may be underlying problems with engine/head gasket and overheating caused damage to engine) been quoted about €330 (parts + labour), engine is used NOT reconditioned, is it worth getting a used engine?

Scarp the car and put the money I have for repairs + scrap towards another car (not really something I want to do)

Car is taxed and nct'd until March and insured until March with Aviva's 13 lessons + 6 months insurance deal

Sorry if it's a bit long, I'm really just looking for people's opinions on what they would do in my situation,

Thanks in advance

Toyotafanboi

what mileage is on the clio?
is it in good condition otherwise? (scrapes or damage? worn interior etc)
do you like it as a car?

to be honest if you like the car and it's in ok condition i'd get it fixed. as always, better the devil you know than the devil you don't. €500 is not that much money and you'l then know you have a pretty decent little car that will last you another few years with relative certainty.

say you scrap the clio, get €150 for it and add to that the €500 that you were going to spend on the clutch and head gasket, any car you buy for €650 will likely need repair work and cash pumped into it at some point in the near future unless you shop extremely carefully. in fact, any car you buy for double that money is still risky enough.

OwlGirl

The car is in great condition otherwise, it's my first car and I was really starting to get comfortable with her when this happened

Yeah I know, I'd really like to keep her for another few years, so I'm just looking at whether to get the head gasket and clutch done or buy a used engine, but with a used engine I could end up buying someone else's problem and work could be needed on that.

I have the money put by for the repairs anyway, just worried that other damage could have been caused by the head gasket blowing?

Thanks for the advice!

Alanstrainor

Head gasket and clutch for 500 is a good price.... I would be tempted by that option.

I would not go down the route of new engine, waste of time, and too much unknown.

Head gasket is usually caused by a failure in the cooling system, so that would need to be comprehensively checked before the car is handed back.

But, the car was bought very cheap, and you can most likely expect other issues to arise, it's a tough one as you're almost investing the price of the car again purely for the HG and clutch...