I took my '97 960 Volvo (196K miles) to a reputable mechanic in the area to do a head job on my brick (there was coolant in the engine). It took less than a week and when I picked up the car, there was a bit of smoke from the tail pipe and the mechanic said that it would go away in a few days -- it never did. The head gasket was replaced and engine resurfaced. The timing belt and water pump were also replaced at the same time. The cost of the repair was $2,000.

Later, I took the car back because it was idling roughly. I also noticed the engine was burning oil. I'm no mechanic by any means, but I figured it was in need of a tune-up because it felt like it was a bad spark plug.

I took it back to the same mechanic to a) look at the smoking issue and b) check out the rough idle for a possible tune-up.

The mechanic told me that it may be a bad coil, they were ordering the part and it would be ready the next day -- great.

The next day, he told me that it was a bad piston and it may be cheaper to purchase a used engine rather than taking the engine apart. I asked him why this was not checked when the engine was taken apart for the head job and he said they "checked it from the top, not the bottom, which is where the problem is".

Again, I'm no mechanic, but wouldn't/shouldn't it be checked all around? Am I being charged twice for the same job?

This is my burning question. The mechanic located a used engine with 60K miles that costs $2000, not including labor, but said that he could do a valve job on the existing engine for the same amount.

Any opinions, recommendations, and/or suggestions on dealing with this dilema are very much appreciated.