2000 Ford Focus SE review from North America

Brakes replaced at 39,000.

Key won't go into ignition (twice, and now iginition won't turn at all).

Sometimes, have to turn wheel to insert key fully.

If key flipped to another side, won't go into ignition.

Carbon build-up in engine at 79,000.

First of all, I really like my car. Really. I've only had wear and tear things replaced up to now and have taken my car in for about 3 recalls. However, I've recently had two problems: 1) Carbon build-up in my engine; and 2) A stuck ignition switch.

The carbon build-up happened on my way back from a drive to New York from the St. Louis area. Everything was fine and the engine ran great the entire way there. My fiance and I let the car rest for three days while we took buses and subways around the New York area. After the third day, we started up the car and hit the highway. We didn't get out of New Jersey before we noticed hesitation when shifting gears. You'd hear the engine race, then finally "ca-chunk" when the gear finally shifted. I got scared and told my fiance to pull over. We called AAA and in about 2 hours, they came and towed the car (less than 3 miles, thank goodness) to their shop. We sat around for hours. The mechanic finally told us that the engine was experiencing carbon build-up, which was a reported occurring problem with this model. He said it would cost a few thousand to fix, but he could try just cleaning it out. It worked! We paid him about $300 (which sent our credit card over the limit), and drove home. The only other problem was that we had smoke coming out of the air conditioner after we got so far. We just shut it off and drove home. I let my car sit for a week under our carport before driving it again.

The other thing, ignition key sticking, is still happening. I'll tell my story first, then ask any guru to give your commentary:

About one month ago, I noticed a knocking noise coming from under the car. After driving a couple of times on the highway, I noticed that the noise seemed extremely disturbing when driving past 40 miles per hour. In addition, my steering column looked like it was possessed by demons. It shook erratically. I took the car to get its oil replaced and asked the lube guys if they noticed anything wrong/strange with the underside of the car. They saw nothing. That was week three. I called my dad, who is not a mechanic, and told him about the noise. He said I probably had a broken belt in my tire! The next morning, I decided to drive my car to the local tire place, when I noticed (and I don't know why I hadn't seen it before) that there was a huge chunk of tread missing from my tire! All you could see was silver mesh! I slowly drove my car to the tire place, and spent $34 to have both front tires replaced (the other one was running low on tread anyway). After replacement, there was still a slight sound that was familiar to the loose steel belt, but I shrugged it off, thinking I just needed another tire. My steering column didn't shake at all anymore and I thought everything was fine. A week later, I go visit a friend that, literally, lives less that a couple of miles down the road. I get out of my car and notice that the ignition key stuck a little, but I got it out. I go to get back into my car after a couple of hours and can't get the key in all the way. It only goes in halfway. I get my fiance's keys and the same thing happens! After working with the ignition by pushing my key in, I finally got it to go in all the way, but the ignition won't let me turn the key! I try my fiance's key, same result. We call AAA, the guy goes and tries the same thing I did. No luck. We tow the car to our house because we don't have money to fix it. Is the tire problem and ignition key problem related?

Today, after some research, I figured that the ignition switch locked up. I found a story where a woman said that she found out that the mechanics were "replacing" her switch, when all they were really doing was greasing it!

I just want to know: should I bother getting the ignition switch replaced and looking into the carbon build-up problem or just invest in another vehicle? I'm recently unemployed (Computer Tech) and am living on a very limited income. Any help or comments are greatly appreciated!