Vehicle of interest is a 2010 Dodge Charger. This issue involves a co-worker whom asked me advice a while back on what could be wrong with her car. The symptoms described an obvious failing alternator. She'd also mentioned that it had been a problem getting progressively worse for several weeks. After the alternator replacement, all of the symptoms cleared and everything was fine. I also warned her to keep an eye on her battery performance, considering the length of time that her alternator was failing. All was well for 2-3 weeks. Then she started having intermittent trouble with starting the vehicle. Sometimes it clicks, no start. Sometimes it starts but after a lot of cranking. I directed another co-worker to attach jumper cables directly to her battery (in the trunk) one night recently because it wouldn't start; the relay would just click. Apparently, it started and maintained idle but she detached the cables very quickly and it immediately died. They came to me and I told them to do it again but this time, keep them attached with her car idling for much longer. It must have been a good 20 minutes, at least, and after detaching, it once again died, but this time it sputtered heavily first (I wasn't there, this was explained to me). I didn't have a multimeter on me, but I personally checked the connections for corrosion and tightness and both checked out fine. The terminals were very clean and the cables were tight. I told her that, in my opinion, it must be the refurbished alternator or the battery.
But I take it to the community here: Could there be anything else I just haven't thought of, considering the events that took place? Apparently, the next morning, it miraculously started and she went to an auto parts store to have both the battery and alternator tested. They both tested out fine. It still seems like it necessarily must be one of the two. What do you guys think?