Lil Red

Thanks to everyone for the info - I'll be working on this with the new owner, and also her brother who is more familiar with cars. We'll try everything that has been suggested, starting with getting the car home from the shop. To me, this doesn't sound like an alternator issue, since the battery still had plenty of juice when I went to try to start it. It cranked vigorously, just didn't catch. If the alternator was shot, wouldn't the battery have depleted while driving? That's what has happened to me on other cars when the alt went. Or am I missing something? I noticed, while feeling around (mostly in the dark, with no flashlight - duh) the levers that moved the choke plate - under the air filter on the passenger side - that I could feel a little wire spring which was moving quite freely, and not seemingly connected to anything. It was just sort of wiggling, not springing. Does any of this sound like the choke could be part of the problem? Thanks again to everyone - I'll check back with what we find out.

We bought a '84 GL 2WD wagon (EA81) last year, drove trouble free for a year and then put her in a garage for five months when we got a newer car. We just sold her to a good friend. Put in a new battery, she started right up. Our friend drove her 20 miles home with no problem. The next time she went to drive, the wagon won't start. I went to look - I should make it clear at this point that I have next to no mechanical know-how. Everything I know about cars I know from lurking on this forum last year and reading "How to Keep Your Subaru Running." I did see that the choke plate was staying shut. I was unable to get it started, but then all I could figure to try was holding the choke plate open. She ended up getting towed to a garage. Now the garage says the alternator is shot and the carburetor is "about to go." They want almost $1000 to fix it, which of course is impossible for a car we sold to our friend for less than the cost of the new tires we put on her. If the carb is indeed shot, what are the options for replacing or rebuilding it (other than paying through the nose) - it's a Carter, I'm fairly sure. Is this something that a newbie to car mechanics (though fairly mechanically inclined) can even think about attempting?