Here's the scoop. I was in the market for a replacement of my 95 850 wagon NA. I had enough to put into a late model vehicle. BUT...my son ran into some problems, and I offered to help him out...this took most of my loot.
So, I am left with my 95 wagon with 200,000 miles on it. Runs well, no rust, everything operates. Motor is must assuredly tired...much slower than it used to be. Sluggish. I did all the tune-ups, ran compression tests (forgot the #'s , but they were just OK...). Uses about 1qt oil every 500-1000 miles or so.
Since I had it from 1997, I am kinda attached to it. It has, in the past year or so, new evaporator, heater core, brake hoses, repaired exaust, tune ups, timing belt and serp. belt. I did most of the work myself, so the costs have been moderate.
Am I crazy to want to put a new head on this car? I will do a leak down to evaluate the rings, but I feel that they are OK (Of course, they could blow at any point after the 200,000). I just don't want to find myself in the middle of the winter with an engine that is sooo tired , it wants to die.
If I invest in another car, I am just at the start point of unknown repairs on that vehicle.

 

Look for a running parts car with a lower mileage engine and swap the engine.

 

If you've had the car 13+ years then you know what you have. I have 265K on mine and I'm upgrading things and not worried about blowing the rings. Only owned it a year but it runs well. It had terrible care before me but I've been making up for it.
If you're able to do most of the work yourself you are probably better off keeping it and just doing maintenance on it to get you through the winter. You can save up some cash to either buy a replacement vehicle when the $$ are right or decide to put it into this one with a lower mile engine swap or rebuild. Why would you put a head on it at this point? Is there more to the story? Check engine light? Is the engine low on power or when you put your foot in it can you hear the engine rev but the acceleration isn't quite right (trans slip)? You should find out what it is that's robbing it of the power you think it should have first and then make a choice if THAT problem is worth fixing.

 

Milk it.