MacBook Pro underwent several repairs, problems still persisting. What should I do?

Question

I own a 2010 17" MBP. I have upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 8GB, removed the optical drive and installed the optibay cover (1TB HDD in the optical bay slot and 300GB SSD in the primary). Approximately about a few months before my extended warranty was up, I began experiencing issues and eventually, I was unable to start my computer at all. No fans spin up, no boot screen, no indication the machine in on. The only thing that was functioning was the battery indicator LEDs on the side.
Background (not relevant): This is my primary mobile machine. I own a few desktops I've assembled myself and the MBP. I've used the laptop in several cities and the only repair I've had before this was the display. It had severe light bleeding issues. I take care of my laptop and I've done the upgrades as mentioned above. I actually clean out the dust every 4-6 months or so. It's actually quite amazing how much dust can accumulate in the computer.
Trip #1: Took it to an apple store for repair, the tech told me the logic board had failed and they would have to send it out for repair. They replaced the logic board and the hard drive (apparently bad blocks showed up in the test). Got my laptop back in a little under a week and computer was working great. A couple weeks later, my applecare has expired and the computer begins to shut down randomly.
Trip #2: Go back to the apple store and explain my situation. The genius is curious since the chance of two faulty logic boards is pretty slim. She thinks it might be an issue with the power button itself so she opens up the bottom and attempts to short out the starter pins to start the computer. Nothing happens. She says they will likely have to replace the logic board again and this time the computer will undergo deeper testing to ensure it's good to go. I say great and luckily they have the parts at the store so turnaround time should be quick. Got it back, everything is fine, but again after a few weeks the computer shows the exact same problems.
Trip #3: Somehow the computer comes back to life when I show it to the genius. It boots up just fine. This is the same person I saw from Trip 1 so he's somewhat familiar with the situation. He hooks up the computer and runs the diagnostic. Thermal sensors near the magsafe port is too hot so he says that might the cause all along. He also says that it might be something to do with components under the keyboard? I don't know... Got my computer back yesterday and they ended up replacing the logic board again along with the magsafe board. I used it during the night and once again the computer shut off randomly. I'm sensing some impending doom here, but hopefully it trudges through.
If I add up all the repair costs that Apple has done so far, it's basically the cost of the computer. One display replacement, 3 logic boards, a hard drive, and a magsafe board along with all the labor...
It is becoming extremely irritating to keep going back to the Apple store to get my machine fixed and I cannot keep taking time every other week or so to get it taken care of. I would like to sell the computer and just buy a new one, but who is going to buy a computer with so many issues right after the warranty is gone (all repairs have been free due to the 90-day grace period from a repair). And I won't omit the fact about the repairs either since it's a crummy thing to do and they would be able to find out anyway if a tech at an Apple store looked it up.
Can anyone tell me what my options are if the computer fails again? Or will I just have to endure my computer continually eating logic boards?

Answer 1

Ok.
Go into Disk Utility, and make sure you select your external hard drive.
There should be 4 tabs, one being erase. I have taken a screenshot to show you what it should be set to (obviously name it what you like), and set the format to Mac OSX Extended (Journaled) as per the example below & after double checking your in the right drive, you can hit erase. And you're done! *hopefully*