Shortest period of surf ownership?

[Koi]

For what its worth, I think the dealer has been pretty good with you. If it was me I would argue that the motor was under three months warranty and you should have returned it if there was any faults i.e leaking cap and overheating. I would have said that you playing around with the Surf, changing stat, draining the coolant etc had caused the problems and made it overheat etc and that you should have returned the veh as soon as you thought there was a problem.
So for you to return the Surf and he refunded you no problems was pretty good imho.

[Apache]

Darren, you need to change your vehicle details to 'none'

Sorry... couldn't resist.

Yeah, dealer's done OK by you, but it is worth leaving the reg number up so if it does come up for sale, interested parties can give it a thorough check - after all the dealer may repair it before selling on.

Mine's green over silver - maybe I should check the stat...

[Albannach]

This is the first time I've seen this and I have to say that if I'd sold you the truck, you'd broken it, then brought it back; I'd have told you, in no uncertain terms, where to go.

Broken, in this case is defined as - Truck was Ok when you bought it, you carried out work on the truck, truck broke. It's your bad, not the seller's.

I'm with Tony and Koi, keep the number here; the truck isnow a duffer.

[Wolfracer]

Just to add some meat to the bones of the "pressurised system". You can check if its pressurising from cold by taking the rad cap off and starting the engine. Rev the engine from the throttle cable and within 5 seconds you should see either wisps of smoke or small bubbles forming, and then foaming, a llttle like opening a bottle of fizzy pop which has been shook. The engine doesn't have to be hot, nor the stat open to see this wonderfully depressing sight....
So, why would the "open" stat mask this?
Away from that, it is good that we now know this vehicle WILL breakdown at some point, even if temporary sealed using radweld etc... and if I were a buyer, then I 'd be grateful of this info...
Be glad you walked away unscaithed... there's plenty more surfs out there, just find one with proof of a head job.

[TonyN]

Away from that, it is good that we now know this vehicle WILL breakdown at some point, even if temporary sealed using radweld etc... and if I were a buyer, then I 'd be grateful of this info...

If the dealer puts a new head on, it'll be a perfectly good truck. Ask for proof, or look for a shiny head, and it'll be good.

People knock the middle out of a stat in the mistaken belief the engine will run cooler if its getting hot, or stat was stuck shut.