Thank you for your replies, It's not the cost that is my issue, like I say a hell of a lot of work was done included in that price. I could of course buy another rover for that price but still be faced with a head gasket replacement a few thousand miles down the line. I've since bought a brand new vehicle. Does anyone know where I take my grievance whether I am correct to pursue some answers or not?

Dear all, My first post here I will try and make this as simple as I can. Car in question is a 12 year old vehicle (rover 75) which are prone to head gasket failure the vehicle had done 99000 miles when we had our first failure in August of last year, the vehicle in otherwise excellent condition and maintained regardless of cost. The vehicle did hit high on the temp gauge and was stopped immediately, the vehicle was recovered by the AA to our local garage The garage: the garage in question is a local out of town garage that we have used for servicing and mot work since moving into the area 3 years ago. We had been happy with the work carried out and the cost but not always with their organisation skills or communication but on the whole a good service The garage, initially said they would look at the car within 48 hours, this didn't happen it took close to four days of me calling them to eventually be told it needed further investigation. I asked them to go ahead and strip the head to see what damage was done it then took a further two days to hear the result( I called them) the head was sent to be checked and skimmed and returned I asked that parts such as cambelt, water pump, thermostat etc were replaced at the same time Three to Four days later I was able to pick the car up after paying the almost agreed rice of £1924 (actually £60 higher than expected) The car ran fine up until just before Christmas when it get hot again, it cooled I checked water levels, all seemed OK the following Monday I took it into the garage for them to check (along with an MOT) I was told a small pipe from the radiator had perished and would need replacing (replaced) and I had a pin sized hole in my radiator but it was not urgent and I should keep an eye on the coolant levels.As this was on top of Christmas, and £364 MOT bill i was happy to hear the radiator was not urgent, 4 days later steam high temp gauge and a recovery back to the garage It took almost a week of constant calling before they could tell me they had looked at the vehicle but would need further investigation, I received several rather "scripted" reply's about how I had been told about my radiator and checking my levels, which I found rather suspect. I then started to visit the garage after work in search of the manager, but he always seemed to be out. I eventually caught up with him on a Saturday morning, where he told me it was indeed head gasket failure again but his work or parts were not at fault. He claims the vehicle would not have traveled 6000 miles if there was a problem with his work or parts. I am lucky enough to know a mechanic who works for a main dealer and has 20 years experience who has told me the reasons why it cannot be the fault of the radiator and that water under pressure was merely looking for a weak spot, how there was a possible issue with the block itself or any number of faulty parts, or dodgy work may have caused this. Still the garage owner is adamant that he is not at fault and I have left my vehicle in his yard for close to 6 weeks with no contact from him, after he agreed to find out the price for a recon engine. The garage contacted me this Saturday and asked what I was doing with the car, and I simply reminded them I was waiting on a price for another engine I know this is a lot of information but I needed to tell the full story, Something isn't right here and maybe i'm wrongly suspicious. Communication with the garage is difficult because they do not return calls or give vague answers and I feel i've gone as far as I can speaking direct to the garage. It is part of the autocare group, I have been in contact with a body they are affiliated with but they don't answer the phone! Any suggestions please