I've got an old M reg 306 ('94, 1.4 XL (petrol!), 5 door, 85,000 miles)... Had it for about 2 years now and have had a fair bit of work done on it (new O/S drive shaft, new clutch, head gasket + head skim and it's had a major service this year).
The head gasket and clutch went within about 2 weeks of each other and as such I went out about 4 months ago and bought a new car as I'd had enough of the 'old banger'. Since then it hasn't been taxed or insured and has sat in front of my garage. I've run the engine once a week but the car hasn't been anywhere. It's now (smelling / looking like) it's burning off a bit of oil though the oil level isn't dropping so (in my limited knowledge) I'm suspecting the head re-conditioning / new gasket job was botched. More evidence to support this is that if I remove the filler cap while the engine is running it puffs out air - it's a noticeable pressure and in time to the engine speed... So even if it's only a seal of some sort I'd have to pay through the nose again to get it sorted (lots of labour if the head needs taking apart right?)
Anyway - any ideas of what to do. Reckon I'm going to sell it but for that I need to insure and tax it again... If I shift it quick enough the insurance isn't a problem but will I be able to get rid if it's burning oil? (It's still MOT'd until July) Other than that the car is in good condition... Looking at auto trader it would be worth about £1000 if it wasn't burning oil. Head gasket was about £350 to sort so is £700 reasonable?