I wonder if the sunroof has been trying to close and running the battery down (parasitic draw). I don't know how a starter can "run a battery down" unless you sit there cranking for a long time. A bad alternator would not charge the battery.

 

Could be a short in the starter motor corrosion and loose connections and other poltergeists killed the alternator, but it starts and charges now and soon the sunroof motor will be replaced. Like new!

 

Well, I think it was the bad alternator. The lady at the desk was the one who said I needed a new starter, and that it was draining the battery. I needed a new starter, for sure. But, she just didn't repeat what the mechanic actually told her correctly, that it was simply a bad alternator, but I needed a new starter, too. And yes, about the sunroof. THAT is what I thought. That, being slightly open and the motor in some sort of limbo, that it was draining the battery! They didn't say 'yes' to that idea when I ran it by them. But, I think there's something to that. Bought a used and vouched for sunroof motor Old Blue clued me in on. My husband likes things with propellers on them, ie, special and unusual things, like sunroofs, and he has a tendency to break things at times. So, I may not actually have that sunroof motor installed. Thanks for your info!!

 

More likely there is something obstructing the sunroof.

 

Makes more sense. I too wondered how a "bad starter" alone that's isolated by a relay can drain a battery.

Good rule for sunroofs - at the slightest hint of malfunction, get it closed and pull the fuse so no one can open it before it's safely inside and ready for what could be an ordeal of a repair.