Help!

My daughter has a 13 year old Renault Clio, when we bought the car two years ago the intention was by now it would be scrapped, but like everyone else we have hard hard times in this household.

Two weeks ago the car started using gallons of water and juddering and overheating. We got a mobile mechanic that would not even look at it and told us to cut our loses, he diagnosed Head Gasket from a distance, but there was no smoke. I checked for water in the oil and vica versa and there was no sign of it.

Because the mechanic would not come out we got a second opinion. This guy is not a qualified mechanic but he brought with him his nephew who was an Army mechanic in the Royal Fusilliers. They examined the car and assured us that it was not the Head Gasket, they offered to service the car for £60 and said whatever it was the water leak was minor. My daughter decided to go for it the car was serviced, the over heating stopped, but the juddering continued. This time you could smell and see smoke and it was obvious that the car had Head Gasket problems. I was furious but decided to cut our loses and move on.

Tonight these men have phoned and offered to fix the Head Gasket, rotary arm, distributor cap and power steering pump for £200 parts and labour.

Tell me is it worth it?

Thanks

Elaine