In need of some advice if possible please.

A bit of history

Had a new radiator fitted to My Furby vRS under warranty a few months back, at the time it seemed to have fixed my coolant loss issue, kept an eye on the coolant levels daily for a few weeks and all was well.

About a month ago the coolant light came on, luckily I was near home so was able to get home and investigate, the coolant was well below minimum, so topped it up and kept an eye on it.

The other night, noticed, when cleaning the car it was slightly low again, undid the cap (engine was cold, had been stood for a while) but the system was still pressurised. Topped it up anyway.

Present day

Driving into work this morning, coolant light came on again, luckily right near work, turned out, the fat lump behind the wheel (me) didn't screw the cap on (usually pretty thorough when it comes to checking) and the expansion tank was totally empty.

I have topped up with yet more coolant but my main question is, will the system have any air possibly trapped in it, does the system need to be bled at all?

Secondly, before I take it into the dealers to get them to look at it (under warranty). Is it normal for it to use coolant? (The car previous was a Rover 200, you know, the ones that suffered from head gasket failure amongst many many other issues, and that drank coolant, which was 'apparently' normal)

Reading this thread seems to list many of my symptoms, praying its not head gasket failure:-

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/160076-coolant-loss-head-gasket-failure-95000-mile-19-tdi-130-vrs/

May be worth mentioning, ever since I purchased the car, the expansion tank has had a 'coolant crust', for lack of a better word, around the lip that splits the tank in two (if that makes sense). Took this as normal but is there any explanation for this?

I'm hoping its something simple like a faulty expansion tank or cap, but knowing how my luck has gone today, it isn't!

Any help would be really appreciated!

could be the cap check the rubber gasket and it's mating face otherwise the next step I think would be a presure test

Having a very similar issue to you:

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/index.php?/topic/237001-vRS-coolant-loss-:(

I had a new rad on mine a while back, I'm wondering if it is air lock but not sure since it was ok for a long time after. Might get the dealer who did it to check it out. I had a pressure and sniff test, both came back clear. My coolant alarm is coming on every 2 weeks/200 miles when i start the car, it is pressurised when cap is removed after being left overnight. Really don't know what to do with mine since tests are clear but there is something wrong to keep getting the alarm.

My previous car was a Rover 214Si and had HG problems. Thought I would be safe from it with this car choice, really hope it isn't that again...

Let me know what you find.