So I'd snuck into the Subaru dealership with my wife in early February (arranged my detour around LRT construction to go by there) and she went for a test-ride (she doesn't drive, so I did) and she agreed to replacing our 2000 Subaru Impreza SportWagon with a 2016 Subaru Impreza 5Dr.
So I arranged to drop in and finalize the deal a week or so later. She wanted to be left at a mall while I went to the dealership.
Prior to the mall we had driven to a village on the very other side of town for a breakfast buffet. We got to the buffet before it opened. So I decided to try going for gas while waiting, but the gas station across the road wasn't really open either. So after we left the restaurant I dropped in at the gas station and bought gas.
Then we drove along the highway to the mall near the dealership, completely on the other side of town. In the middle of that trip I noticed a distinct electrical engine smell which didn't seem to go away quickly, but lingered with us.
So I dropped my wife at the mall and she quickly went to the doors to get out of the cold.
The engine would not turn over at all. As if the battery was dead (partially true), or, I theorize, you might get a similar feeling on that car if the clutch cable snapped because of its starter interlock.
So I called CAA, and tried to locate my wife after that, but couldn't but left a service message thing at the Wal-Mart desk. Which actually worked later, it turned out.
I thought I'd told CAA where I was, but when I tracked them with their App webpage thingy I could tell they were in the parking lot on the other side of the mall. So I carefully walked over there watching for them coming the other way. (The text messages they send you are not monitored for replies, perhaps not surprisingly).
So I found the CAA guy in his tow truck and we drove near my car. He told me it was too parked in to tow, but he could probably start it with a boost from his power pack. (I suspect it's lithium ion, and probably has a disconnect switch so he doesn't need to worry about sparking; he boosted it directly from my battery terminals, not a ground location).
So yes, the engine started, and he told me I could not stop until I got to where I needed to go.
So I managed that. I guess by that point I had phoned the dealership to tell them I was going to need to come slightly later for my appointment. But I arrived at the dealership late.
We left the engine running all the time I signed the papers and stuff, but it didn't significantly charge the battery, if at all.
The saleman happily set us up with a CVT Crosstrek for the rest of the weekend. (But somehow when I returned it on Monday I got the impression the service manager wasn't so happy with that generosity).
Yes, I needed a new alternator. The car had sensed it was going to be replaced, and had a hissy fit, I guess.
Early suspicions had been I'd just completely wrecked my battery. But at least since that wasn't the situation I didn't need to revise my ideas of how batteries will die.
We'd known before the purchase that it would take two months for the car to arrive. (In theory I didn't buy the car at the time of agreement because it did not exist yet and had no VIN).
So a hopefully last pile of money thrown at the old car.
The new one finally arrived last Wednesday (yesterday) but won't be ready until Tuesday.