Right.... I bought this as a runaround for the wife a while ago, thinking I'd got a good deal. It had a (genuine) 40,000 mile engine, no service history but the previous owner was a policeman (now retired) and I was told it had been serviced at Her Majesty's expense. I think that's probably true.

Almost immediately however, it started to lose coolant and overheat - especially on the steering column housing, where it was red-hot. Took it to a garage, who told me that the water housing was broken, plus it needed at least part of a new exhaust, probably new timing belt... the list went on. I began to wish I hadn't bothered with the damn thing and left it off-road for a few weeks while I decided exactly what to do about it.

My in-laws decided the car was too good to lose and told the garage to get it through its MOT. They've now replaced the rest of the exhaust, new handbrake cable - lots of bits and pieces that totalled almost £500. Not the timing belt, though, I noticed.

I picked it up a couple of hours ago and have just driven it to work (about 15 miles away). Thing is, it's still overheating and is still red-hot above the steering - to the point where I'm quite afraid it might burst into flames. There's no cold air blowing out of the grilles, even when set to coldest. Apart from that, it runs brilliantly...

Questions: What's likely to be the cause and is it something I can fix myself?

And do I have redress with the garage? They seem to have taken a lot of money for doing f**k all. It's not my money, and I was coming around to the idea of just gettng rid of the car and learning my lesson before the in-laws stepped in. Gawd bless 'em (they certainly meant well) but I did try and warn them. Even so, I feel bad that they might have been ripped off.

If you have any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them. And thanks for reading.

Tits and wheels, eh...