850AWD head gasket failure

Hi guys,
Having just bought a P reg 850AWD for £4k I was well chuffed with myself ( full leather, alloy wheels, cruise control it's got the lot ). However after three days of problem free motoring, the head gasket blew as I was coming off the motorway, luckily we managed to pull over on a side road away from traffic. Sent wife and kids home on bus and then sat for 3 1/2 hours waiting for recovery vehicle to turn up. Needless to say I phoned the garage where I bought the car as soon as I could, they say as I bought the car at trade price then I had no warranty but as I had only had the car a few days they would do me a deal and repair it for cost. Now to my Question? when I was picked up by the AA the guy said that it didn't sound like the block was cracked as there was plenty of compression, which could be seen as the engine was cranked and the expansion tank lid was off, it blew the coolant out of the tank. What could the possibilities be of damage to the engine?

[Rooster]

Am sorry to say but that don't sound good. Compression must have been down on at least 1 cylinder for it to be blowing what out ot the expansion tank. Has the car been overheating or overheated at anytime while you have had the car, if not then you may be lucky and it could be the head gasket if not then its more likely to be a bore thats cracked.

How much cheaper was the car than any other you have looked at, if it was alot then there may have been a reason for it.

Only had it for 3 days and that was the first long run out, it was overheating on the return journey but I filled the coolant tank and tried to keep the temp down by watching my speed. If it's a cracked bore or knackered engine what would you say are my best options. It was a bit of an impulse buy, The dealer doesn't deal in Volvo's and doesn't like selling cars with more than 100k on the clock.

[Rooster]

You could have the engine stripped ie head removed but thats a 5 hour job just to remove it to see whats up with it. You may be best seeing if you can locate another engine for it out of a similar aged car, i think your engines a B5254T it will say on the timing belt cover.

The garage where I bought it are repairing it for me at a reduced rate ie. parts cost or labour cost only, because I only had it a few days, as a gesture of good faith. They have stripped the engine down and are now waiting for a second opinion from a mechanic currently on holiday(back tuesday) reports are that the head is possibly knackered but the block is possibly salvageable. Would I be better just getting another engine? Any ideas where to look?

mark do not be fobbed of with the old chestnut you bought it at trade price etc you have no comeback its ####, if he is a dealer you have recourse through law, the car must be of merchantable quality etc etc which it clearly aint get good legal advice from for eg trading standards(they have a good website) and take it from there, youve nothing to lose

I checked with the AA legal helpline who said that unless I can prove that the dealer knew that the car was faulty before he sold it then I have no recourse. Proving it is the difficult part.

Just looked on trading standards website and it's very interesting reading indeed thanks for the info.