I was in the same boat. The last two years, I put enough money into the tour that I could have bought a new car. So when the head gasket went. She said "That's enough!!". Sadly, I had to agree. So as you can see below, it's gone. What clinched it was, at the same time, the Geo's motor seized up. We went from a four car family down to two quickly. Instead of spending 3k on repairs for both cars, we put it down on the Chevy Aveo for my son. He'll be making the payments. The tour went to a fellow CEG'r. So it's in good hands.
Edit: My daughter's not too happy. she doesn't have a car anymore.
I'm sorry your daughter isn't happy, but I couldn't be happier! It's running pretty well at the moment, and I'm evaluating it to see if the new gasket can wait until I reach Louisiana. If so, I'll drive it down rather than towing it (as I have no place to store a trailer/car), and then change the head gasket down there. I just drove it 120 miles round trip today to visit my father in the hospital. So far, it's looking quite positive!

When I get a little free time, I'll spruce it up some. Some new paint for the wheels, find a working cup holder, put in a CD player!
On a side note Dewey, it's a good thing you left that multi-lug wrench in the trunk. I had a blow-out on the trailer about 20 miles South of College Station. I had to jury-rig it by jacking up the front axle (using the Contour's jack!), remove the wheel (using the t-wrench), jack the axle up as high as I could get it, then wrap a tow chain around the hub and trailer rail it to hold it up. I drove 20-25 miles on three wheels and a tow chain, pulled into the College Station WalMart tire center 7 minutes before they closed, and got a new tire for $40. It completely shredded the tire, ripping off the center section. It left two donut-shaped rings attached at the bead lip on the front and back side of the wheel. Crazy trip back!
To top it all off, when I was messing with the trailer (unhooking and hooking it back up - as I thought I was going to run into town to get the tire fixed then come back) I forgot to reconnect the lights. I drove 3 1/2 hours in the dark, and in heavy traffic sometimes, with no trailer lights! :troutslap: Over 800 miles round trip in a day, and I get pulled over 1 mile outside of town because of those lights. :nonono: Ended up with a ticket for expired inspection. He just gave me a warning on the lights, since I plugged them back in and they worked. :crazy:
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As for when is enough enough? I love the Contours so much that there is no 'enough.' As long as the repairs can be done reasonably, it is still MUCH cheaper than a new car payment and the higher insurance payments that go with it. My new car bug has officially been replaced by a used Contour bug.