2011 head gasket. Repair or move on?

I wouldn’t pay that much, maybe look into junkyards. Couple of years ago I bought and install a motor at junkyard for 1200, but it was for a doge van. The problem might be that you be speeding a lot more than 3,000 in long run. Even if you have decided to get a new motor, I would check, transmission, battery, and other parts just to make sure it would last another 3 years

 

Unless you are capable and willing to change the head gasket yourself...be advised the Black Book value on you vehicle is around $3,000 based on model, year and mileage. Antifreeze stop leak is a BS band-aid that WILL cause other problems.

The decision you need to make is how much work and/or money you want to put into a vehicle with 225K miles on it vs buying a new one that should last another trouble free 225K miles.

 

After reading ardashev's post (#20), I would never use that HG sealer. Seems it is just a waste of time.

 

It's actually worse than doing nothing.

 

It may sounds so especially if you must keep driving your car in the meantime. But this solution seems temporary and you do damage to other components of your car. You may get lucky and not see the symptoms for weeks to months but it may come back one day and you will start over.
If the idea is to squeeze a few more thousand miles from the car and then replace it, then maybe okay. But it is obvious that this isn't a long-term solution based on what I read here.

I liked your post #22. It summarizes everything nicely. It may not be very smart for him to go though all that hassle for a car that has 225k miles. If his route is to finally trade it in and get a new one, then trying this in the meantime may not hurt.

If it was me, I would try looking into fixing it. I have a spare ride though. If you don't have one and have to drive everyday, then you gotta move on...