Replaced the battery cable and found out that the ground in the old cable was attached to a hose backet of some sort! Reattached the ground to the block and everything seems to be fine now. The mechanic assured me that the old starter was bad and he tested it before replacing it. I'm surprised the car even ran before with the ground being messed up like that. We have only had the car for a couple weeks so who knows how long it's been like that.
Glad you got your grd problem figured out. I'm late to the dance as usual but anyways, I've been ASE Master certified since 1990 and I can almost assure you that you didn't need that starter. You can always ask for your old parts to be returned to you after the repair. Since it was a starter there may have been a core charge involved depending on if the new one was "new" or rebuilt. Some techs feel a trust is being violated just tell them you're going to clean them up and possibly use them for art projects.
That way they don't get all butt hurt over it. As far as putting contacts in a starter that is how old, has how many miles and how many heat cycles? Not me! I'll tell my customers point blank, I wont do it.
This is my diagnoses, this is what's best for your car, you and your family. Not worth having your daughter stranded somewhere to save that kind of $ especially when it would cost about the same for me to pull it out, do it and put it back. I would recommend however that you pull it back off of the block and put one of these behind it, use dielectric grease on both sides and bolt it back on. The little teeth will grab the metal and keep it from coming loose, plus provide the best connection.
Try to find a stainless one if you can, they have some that are zinc coated....
Any hardware store will have em.
Depending on the age and condition of the cable I may even go as far as replacing it since you'll be there, shouldn't be more than about $20-$30 for one. This brings back memories of a Honda accord my daughter bought and I almost put a new main relay in it just for kicks because they are so problematic. I didn't do it and got a phone call in the middle of the night 3 wks later to go rescue her, 40 miles away! Got there, checked it, beat on it a bit and drove it home. $60 relay