I have an o2 reg Ford Ka with the older style engine apparantly! Yesterday the head gaskett went leaving me stranded 200 miles from home in Bedfordshire… im now back home and have to try and arrange for somewhere to repair it for me and so far ive had quotes from £350 up to £1200. My Dad thinks it should only cost around £200. The car probably isnt even worth any more than £750.
Its currently in a compound where the breakdown cover company toom it to as there were no garages open on a sunday and to tow me home would have cost me around £400. Its already cost me £52 to get the train home.
I need to make a decision as to whether I get it repaired or try to part ex it for a new car as i am wanting to get a new one soon anyway…
I need to sort it out ASAP as id been away and half of my belongings are still in the car boot!!
Any advice or suggestions greatly appreciated!! 
I dont think thats possible… by the time I pulled over and stopped there was smoke pouring out of the boet and it was absolutely reeking of burning… also in the military reserves and drive a lot of long distances and dont want to drive 200 miles with a unroadworthy car and then ed up having to repeat the expense ad waste of time of yesterday again getting towed away ad then having to pay to get to my destination.. i was just lucky in the fact that id not gone too far from where i left!
was coming out of the bonnet… apparantly the water and oil were mixed and the coolat tank was ublig which apparantly gave it away that the head gaskett had gone 
it is so rubbish… all my kits in the car too!! grr
looks like i need my N key repairing too..!!!
oh.. thats not good… not much point spending £1200 getting a car fixed that isnt even worth that much though
I could never do that to someone, id rather part ex it in its current condition and let a garage fix it and sell it on or just sell it as it is and get a new one. this is such a nightmare with it being so far away!!
car breakdown cover
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by Truth Hurts
20 Nov 2009 at 00:03
Normally a head gasket won’t leave you stranded. If its just the head gasket, they need to take off the:
valve cover, timing belt cover and timing belt, remove the camshafts, then the head, its easily an 10 hour job to do it right, not to mention the head will need to be cleaned up and checked for cracks. Also, the parts you will want replaced are:
head bolts, head gasket, timing belt, water pump (if its driven by the timing belt)
The reason for this is:
Head bolts are one time use, (torque to yeild) basically they stretch slightly while torque them down the for the first time so they are weakened when you remove the head so they should not be reused.
head gasket is a given
Tming belt needs to be replaced every 60k kilometers normally and it is about a 5 hours job while you are in there its best to have it done otherwise if it fails your engine could interface (the valves get stuck open and the piston slams them into the head)
Finally the water pump should be replaced everytime the timing belt is changed (if its timing belt driven) if the water pump locks up it will break the timing belt.
£500 should be the minimum to do it right. I think the people charging 1200 are quoting for the worst case which is the head needs to be changed. The combustion gases can crack a head.
Just read your additional details, ok yours massively failed which means they will need to flush the coolant I’m starting to see the 1200 repair, the 350 one is way off base, that one is basically the machanic doing it as quickly as possible, the repair would not last.
No offense to the guy above, but he is very lucky. Head gaskets should be fixed, and oil in the coolant is a big deal it lowers the ability of the coolant to work and will lead to cracked blocks and heads.
If you wanna be a jerk to someone, get the engine fixed for 350 then sell the car and get a new one, but its not a very nice thing to do. Best of luck.