What's wrong with my car, remote version

Post date: 2020-07-11 19:09:36

I'm in New Zealand. I have a 2008 Scion xB in Massachusetts, parked there since late September 2019. I found out recently that the person who promised to occasionally start and drive the car never did. The car got jumped, but won't stay running, and has been towed to a mechanic. What is likely the problem, and how do I minimize the chances of getting bled by a mechanic I don't know?

The person supposedly taking care of the car went to start it but the battery was dead. She had AAA come and jump it. Then she tried to drive it around to charge the battery (I know, low-speed driving for 20 minutes isn't enough). She drove down a dead-end street and had to turn around. When she came to a stop the engine "sounded like it was going to die." She put the car in reverse, backed up, and when she stopped to shift back into drive the engine stopped and the car wouldn't start again. AAA came back and towed it to a mechanic. AFAIK the mechanic hasn't looked at it yet.

This all happened before I knew anything about it.

The AAA guy said he thought it was the alternator. I think that what the AAA guy thinks is irrelevant. I don't know if it was the same AAA guy both times. He jump-started the car the first time, he did not replace the battery or charge it.

I have to talk to the mechanic when they open in a few hours. I've never used this mechanic. I've had some great mechanics in the past as well as some money-vampire mechanics, but i don't know which kind this will be. My mechanic is on the other side of the country so I can't use him.

I can't really get decent details from the person who was driving the car when it died, but I'm tempted to infer from what she said that the engine was idling too low when it "sounded like it was going to die." There's no way she drove it long enough or fast enough to charge the battery in any meaningful way, so I think there's not enough data to suspect the alternator. It could easily be the alternator, but it could easily be something else.

In my admittedly amateur opinion, it could easily be that the fuel filter has been clogged with sediment, or some other old fuel-related problem (fouled injectors, water in the gas tank...)

The person who was supposed to take care of the car has offered to pay for repairs, but she presents as a classic "easy mark" - she's credulous and is easily swayed by authority wthout verifying its authenticity. I don't want her to be dragged down an expensive rabbit hole of replacing every part in the troubleshooting flowchart. I also don't want to have to deal with finding another mechanic remotely and having the car towed around more than is absolutely necessary.

So, my question is... can I still eat this car? No wait! My questions are... what are the most likely causes of an engine shutting down in a car with a dead battery and 10 month old fuel in the tank, being driven for the first time in 10 months after a jump-start? And what do I say to/how do I approach dealing with the mechanic in a way that minimizes unnecessary repairs? Finally, how can I tell whether I'm dealing with a good, honest mechanic or the other kind, when I'm so far away with few other options to leverage?

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