So I'm idling the car for a while, and it shuts off and won't start back up. Put the battery on the charger, able to start the car afterward, so ok must be bad alternator. Replace the alternator. Car sat for several weeks. Car will not turn over now. Recharge the battery, still will not turn over, retry it several times, and finally it turns over for about a microsecond, now there is no power to anything, where the accessories worked before. Nothing completely dead. I'm banging my head against the wall with this car. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Did you check both ends of both battery cables? The ends not at the battery have been known to go bad.

 

If the battery is not holding a charge the battery could be bad. Have it checked. If its more then 3 years old my guess is. The battery was your issue the whole time

 

I should have mentioned, after finding out the car was dead, I went and got a new battery for it. The old battery was definitely bad, it was tested 3 times. Put new battery in. Still nothing, deader than a door nail. I suppose it could be a bad connection, but the clamps made a good spark when I connected them to the battery. I guess I'll check those connections out tomorrow.

 

+1 re: checking the battery cables. Some corrode internally. Also, clean the connection where the negative battery cable bolts to the chassis ground. It's below the battery, between headlight & wheel well.

 

Most like bad battery cables, common problem with x-types.