Head gasket failure?

I recently bought a C3 1600 120bhp auto. Within 2 days it needed 3 litres of water to top up. I proved it was a head gasket TYPE problem with a test kit. I returned it and am awaiting a full refund after they were unable to fix the problem within a fortnight.

I'm now looking for a replacement but have heard stories thta head agsket is a common issue and the factory admitted that original head gaskets had issues?

Is this true or is a faulty head gasket just luck of the draw ?

Hi and welcome to the forum.

You have some confusing data in your Bio. You say the car is an original shape (2003-2005) but then list it as a 2012 model!
So I am not sure which engine you are talking about.
But I would guess it's the EP6 (prince) engine.
The EP6 is a relatively new engine and is also used in the BMW mini and a few other BMW vehicles.
"Modern" engines tend suffer oil related issues and at 30,000 miles (from your bio) a head gasket failure would be unusual.
However be advised that external things can cause the head gasket to fail and not the gasket itself.
A warped or cracked head. Apparently the coolant channels in the EP6 head can get blocked causing over heating of the head. This could lead to warping of the head.
Of course this is all just speculation.
Most engine failures these days can be attributed to poor maintenance. To get the better fuel economy, modern engines run VERY hot. This can lead to a plethora of component failures, leading to engine failure, if the engines are not maintained correctly.
So the question is actually whether or not the previous owner of a used car maintained it correctly!!??

I recommend this Youtube channel if you are interested in the known failures of engines. It's in Russian so turn the subtitles on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI0KEHJDxOs
This particular video deals with the EP6. Again he mentions oil problems but no head gasket problems. The closest he gets is poor coolant flow in the head causing over heating. It's long and technical and might not be your "cup of tea". But for future reference if you buy another (different) car, you can look up the engine and he will tell you the typical failures of that engine type.

Sorry about the conflicting info , I did struggle with the filling the form in and didn't realise it was ' for life'.

The vehicle the gasket blew on was a 2012 model 1600 120 bhp and that's the model I would like to buy again . I have one in my sights but thought I'd better check over the rumours I's heard .

The initial puchase had 66,000 miles on it with a supposed full service history but I believe this was bogus.The one I'm going to look at has 46,000 on the clock.

I would recommend a 5,000 MILE oil change interval. It's highly unlikely the previous owner did oil changes at that interval. Most car manufacturers recommend "extended" oil change intervals. As I said, most "modern" engines suffer damage because the oil will not stand long change intervals. The oil just gets cooked!
Was the 45,000 car maintained correctly? Don't know. Sorry but it's a throw of the dice.

Thanks to everyone I have been doing nothing but research since this problem occured in the last purchase . Info added on here has been very enlightening .

It turns out that our other car , a Peugeot RCZ , has the exact same engine but in 156 bhp turbocharged version. This has been totally fault free in our 4 years of ownership so gives me some confidence back.

The C3 I'm looking at tomorrow has had services at between 5 and 6000 according to the service book.

First thing I will be doing is taking it for hard test drive and then allowing it to idle to ensure 1) the fan works and 2) there is nothing untoward happening in the expansion bottle.

Very good. leave no stone unturned!