Blown head gasket. Is it worth fixing?

Praeceps

Hey there I just wanted some opinions on this. I currently have an 07 suzuki swift that has a blown head gasket, I had an accident in January and had to have my radiator replaced in Feburary.

In Mark I found that the coolant hose had built up pressure and leaked coolant at the end of the hose by the rad. I brought it to my mechanic and he said it was HGF.

Gases going into coolant. He quoted £400 for head gasket replacement but I'm not sure it's worth it for the cars worth. (Probably worth £700-800)
A week later I did confirm it after buying a combustion leak tester so I don't need a second opinion from another garage.

I have driven it for 3 months since finding out about it and it is still driving well, no coolant in oil or visa versa. I don't know if it does anything but I open the rad top now and then to see if that helps with the pressure. I have tried using a head gasket sealant in the coolant but it hasn't been able to do anything.

It's going through an MOT today so I hope it goes through okay.

I just don't know much about cars so I'm not sure whether to try to just keep going with what I got, get the head gasket fixed or try and get rid of it. Seeing what the MOT today is like might help.

foxy-stoat

Either pay the £400 and drive it for another year, or 2....or scrap it and buy another car for £1000. I would repair it and keep going with it, if it has been looked after and serviced well.

EdGasketTheSecond

Try some K Seal but make sure it goes in the radiator and not just the header tank. It might fix it; worth a try for 10 QUID OR so. I've used it successfully and so have many others.

Elika0215

No expert myself, but other factors to consider would be; how many miles as it done (i.e. is this the start of a slippery slope) and what you're likely to replace it with if you did sell/scrap it.

For example: If you want to replace a high mileage car with another that costs say less than £1k, then keep/repair the Suzuki. You can never be sure of what'll need repairing on the replacement vehicle.

However, if you want to spend significantly more so you have warranty, lower-mileage and a greater chance of reliability, then it may be time to say goodbye to the Swift.

My daughter has a '06 Kia - about 70,000 miles and I'm spending way more on repairs that the car's worth but know what's been done and to what standard. That provides more reassurance than buying a car twice its value.