We feel that at that time we will have had the focus 9+ years, Corolla 10+ years and with a baby it would be valuable to get something with 4 doors and side airbags, abs, etc.

If you get an itemized invoice from your mechanic you should also be able to see how much the parts cost versus the labor. Some parts, though cheap, may cost extra money in time because other parts of the car have to be taken apart to get to them to replace them.

Engine valve or valve cover leaking (just to clarify) – engine valve would probably explain a lot of the cost.

A really good resource for understanding your car’s parts better would be:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system8.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine2.htm
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm

I think I would probably stick it out for a couple of additional months unless I seriously hated the car and had my eye on something else cheap.

That engine returned, engine valves leaking and bent axle are probably the most worrisome of what you mentioned.

Did you have a collision or hit a curb that would have bent the axle and rims?

Brakes and Rotors 2x (first time at 25k miles)
Key Column replaced
Fuel Pump and Gauge
Water Pump
Serpentine Belt
Thermostat
Engine Valves leaking
Alternator
Rims
Bent Axel
Engine Retuned (b/c spark plugs misfired and clogged)

These are what I recall but I’m sure there might be more.

There may be a cheaper and more reliable car choice out there but some cars simple have a lot of things fail at once and then they’re fine for awhile (as if most parts were built to last 10 years on the dot.)

Some factors I would consider:
1) Sometimes it’s a problem with your car in particular (maybe it was drag raced by a previous owner or something)
2) Sometimes it’s general problem with all cars of your make/model/year (check to see what other peoples’ complaints are)
3) Replacement parts are not cheap … some cars are simply cheaper to repair than others. You’re NEVER going to repair the car for less t than $X,XXX (think sports car but it’s not only sports cars plagued with this problem.)
4) and sometimes it can be a problem with the mechanic or the parts they are using (alternators can be remanufactured for example, you might want to make sure what they are putting in is brand new if it’s failing too often … or if there might be something else in need of repair that is destroying it.)

If it were either of the first three I would look into getting a new car. If it’s the third I would talk more to the mechanic or pick another mechanic and see if I continue to have quite as many problems. I don’t have any personaly experience or even heresay to go on to give you advice about the Ford Focus though.

OCCASIONALLY there is a work around solution to some car problems (I am not a mechanic, legal disclaimer yada yada.) When I was faced with malfunctioning ABS Brakes system which was an $800 repair (I checked several reliable mechanics – my car repairs have been an average of $200/year for the last 8 years – the car is a 1993 model) I decided to pull the plug on the ABS Brakes literally – they weren’t just dead, they were malfunctioning so I needed to kill the power to that system so I pulled the fuse. A car without the ABS fuse is like driving an even older car, you just have to know you don’t get the antilocking. The brakes still work without the ABS – I won’t go into explaining the mechanics of a car here.

My parents brought up another good point however (I called them to find a second mechanic to get pricing before figuring out the fuse workaround), I could NOT buy a car in the same condition as mine for $800 and I should just do the repair and I probably wouldn’t have to repair that particular system for another 10-12 years. It was a very valid argument but it doesn’t hold up if you do have a dud car.