When something goes wrong with your car, you take it to the garage for a diagnosis and hope that the mechanic hits you with a term that you understand. A faulty spark plug or dodgy battery or something else that you can wrap your head around without being a qualified vehicle technician. Another one of those problems is a blown head gasket, but this infamous issue is one that’s well known for all the wrong reasons. It’s bad news, but is a blown head gasket such bad news that it’s not even worth repairing? Find out here.
If you’ve already decided that the end is near for your motor, get a quote to sell it from Scrap Cars For Cash today and we’ll find you the highest offers paid by scrap buyers in your local area. With quotes generated in seconds and the free collection of your car undertaken in a matter of days, you can have your vehicle sold with cash in your bank account before you know it. For the best deals offered by local buyers no matter where you are in the UK, call 08443 761 020 or enter your vehicle registration and postcode above to receive a valuation almost instantly.
Signs Of A Blown Head Gasket
There are a few symptoms of a blown head gasket to look out for that could be a dead giveaway – however, we should preface this list by saying that if your car is suffering with any of these problems, it’s not guaranteed to have a blown head gasket; there could be something else wrong instead.
A blown head gasket could be indicated by:
Overheating – Your engine temperature starts to creep up higher and higher than its usual steady heat level.
Low power – A lack of power from your engine when you put your foot down.
White/milky oil – Engine oil that looks a strange shade of white, caused by coolant mixing in with it.
White exhaust smoke – In a similar manner, the smoke coming from your engine could also turn out white.
Water from exhaust – Leaks in your car’s combustion system can drip through the exhaust.
Does Car Insurance Cover A Blown Head Gasket?
Unfortunately, the answer to this is generally going to be ‘no’. That’s because car insurance companies won’t pay out on any damage unless it’s the result of an accident or some third-party interference, like vandalism. It might seem a little bit unfair, and we totally understand that car insurance can sometimes feel like daylight robbery, but if they had to cover your car for a blown head gasket, they’d probably also have to pay out for repairs on absolutely everything from flat tyres to busted brake lights. Car insurance premiums are expensive enough as is it!
How Much Does It Cost To Fix A Blown Head Gasket?
Now it’s time to talk about the worst part of all – how much it costs for a new head gasket. The reason a blown head gasket is such a notorious problem in any vehicle is because it is so very expensive to fix. A new head gasket, plus the labour required to fit it, will not come cheap no matter where you look.
At a minimum, you could be expecting to cough up £500 for a new head gasket, but this price could go up as high as £1,000 depending on the make and model you drive. Plus, if you’ve continued driving with a dodgy head gasket for an extended period of time, the chances are that you’ve done extra damage to the actual engine in your car too. This will only make a repair job even more costly.
Determine The Value Of Your Car
When you’re trying to work out the value of your vehicle, you first need to establish which market you’re going to try and sell it into. Are you selling it to a private buyer who’s looking to drive it away themselves, or has it seen better days so you’re trying to offload it to a scrap and car salvage dealer?
If you’re going for the former and looking to sell privately, you should take a look at other cars on the market of the same make, model, age and mileage to give you a starting point. You’ll then need to factor in the damage that your car has suffered in the form of the blown head gasket and lower the price accordingly. This might not necessarily mean calling a mechanic for a repair quote and simply minusing that figure from your starting point, as you have to also account for the hassle that the buyer will have to go through immediately after gaining ownership of the vehicle. Many motorists would need an even bigger discount to tempt them.
That’s why it’s much easier to get a quote from a scrap or salvage dealer via Scrap Cars For Cash. We’ll be able to price up your car fairly and accurately in a matter of seconds, giving you a valuation that’s right in line with the up-to-date market trends. Scrap buyers are mostly interested in the raw weight of your vehicle, since this shows how much metal and other materials they’ll be able to harvest from it after it’s crushed.
How To Sell A Car With A Blown Head Gasket
Just like getting an initial price for your broken car, the complete sales process will be far easier with Scrap Cars For Cash than if you are attempting to sell the vehicle privately to another driver. You don’t need to worry about arranging transportation for the car, since it can’t safely drive under its own power and you also won’t have to deal with haggling buyers attempting to cut down the price a little bit further.
Scrap Cars For Cash helps sort out the collection of your car without costing you a single penny, and we guarantee our prices which means that once you accept an offer, the payment value is set in stone. As long as the car is as described, the collection agent will not renegotiate the price.
With the scrap car quote process only taking seconds, you really could have your car gone and money in the bank just days from the moment you first enquire about our service.
Scrap Cars For Cash Services
Our service isn’t just totally free, efficient and profitable for our customers. It’s also nationwide! We cover almost all of the UK, including some of the most remote countryside locations, so wherever you are, get a quote today by calling 08443 761 020 or by entering your details into the form at the top of this page.
Blown Head Gasket FAQs
We’ve put together a list of some extra questions that often get asked regarding head gaskets and the impact they can have on a car when they fail.
Does a blown head gasket ruin an engine?
A blown head gasket won’t immediately spell the end for a car engine, but if you continue to drive your vehicle while the head gasket seal is broken, you risk doing some serious damage. This is because its primary function is to prevent oil and coolant from mixing. If these fluids were to become mixed and enter the engine, it can have disastrous consequences.
How long will a car last with a blown head gasket?
If your car’s head gasket blows, you’ve probably got around a month at most to do something about it before you do irreparable damage to other parts like the engine. In the meantime, you’ll notice a severe impact on the car’s performance so it’s highly recommended that you deal with this problem as soon as you can, in one way or another.
Is it better to fix a blown head gasket or replace an engine?
Have you got money to burn? Yes? Then continue driving that car with the blown head gasket and simply replace the whole engine instead!
Doing so will turn a pricey fix of £500 to £1,000 into an eye-watering repair job that’ll set you back thousands and thousands of pounds. It’s almost guaranteed that you won’t find a price for an engine replacement that’s even close to the same fee you’d pay for a new head gasket!