Just came back from visiting my parents, and my dad still has a 1.7 DTi Vauxhall astra on the drive.

This was driven into another car at low speed, very little damage, except for damage to the radiator, unknown at that time. This meant that it then overheated while on the motorway. (He was then towed home)

Now, he tried selling the car and had the engine running, just for a few seconds as the radiator was never repaired.

I have now been offered to take the car, but how likely is it that I need more than a new radiator? I.e. is it likely that there is some serious damage from the overheating.

I know it is difficult to say without seeing/hearing the car, but what do you think?

you cant really say tbh. test it and see?

What did i sound like when i ran?
- What caused you dad to stop when it overheated? Ie, how hot did it get!

not sure what it sounded like, i was not there, just know it started

He said that he pulled over when the car was loosing power.
I worked out that from accident to the stopping he would have travelled about 15 miles.

I guess from the tone of your post that its free, so what have you got to lose. Mate had a deisel sieze up from overheating, stone thrown up punctured the bottom rad tank. Towed to a garage, some plastic metal filled the hole, started and drove it home, did many thousands of miles after that, (I believe with the plastic metal still in place). So you "could" be onto a good thing. Cheers Ray

You can get a new rad delivered for £75 one here, if it runs ok all well and good, if not break it you'll soon get the £75 back plus more. If you're looking for some cheap transport its well worth the risk IMO.

what year is the car? you could spend a lot on it and it still won't be worth a lot, if you are getting it for free then it's probably worth having. IMHO.

it is a w reg,

it is the estate version and is otherwise in good condition, i would fancy it as a drive around

I am tempted to give it a go.

I will give an update when I know if I have been successful or not