StrokeB

You have to be a "special type of salesman" to sell used cars, be a master wordsmith to enable punters to be sucked in to their confidence and not question all the uncertainties of a cars history or condition. They may not have clocked the car but could just point out upon inspection that it was "used by a member of their staff who enjoyed it so much he took it on holiday and racked up the extra miles" thus implying that the car is good to drive, desirable and reliable. The 99k listing could be just to get the punter interested. I cannot ever recall being able to totally believe any garage staff, there always seems to be a hidden agenda, it is a shame. It would be nice to find an honest one although they have probably all gone out of business.

Long time since I had a head gasket fail, think it was an old Midget, anyway to see if gasses were getting into the coolant you would remove the filler cap on the radiator then fill a milk bottle with water and turn it upside down into the open filler, then start the car and watvh the bubbles come up the water in the milk bottle. It is old school and I am not sure if it will work on a header tank, can't think why it shouldn't though. Good luck. A head gasket change is not the end of the world and from what I have read so far it does look likely.