Volvo: 92 Volvo 960 wagon electrical failure, vacuum leak, volvo 960

Question
HI - My 3-month old Volvo 960 has had a replaced steering rack, a new water pump, and a new timing belt in. Yesterday, we got a new headlight relay and the right turn signal socket was replaced. In June, it began to shudder while idling and then hesitate when speeding up. Everyone thinks a cylinder has gone, but in order to see if it's something else, it would cost a fortune in labor, checking seals, plugs, etc. I'm living with it for now, but today my partner got on the road for a trip to his family's and the car's brake fail light came on, then the radio went, then the meters went, and then the car shut off entirely. Is it the cable to the battery gone bad? We always have to start the car twice before it actually runs and that was grungy and loose when we got it. I pray it is not the alternator or something else. Help!

Answer
Madeline,
Yes it could be the battery cable, loose, dirty, broken. However this is something that will have to be tested and checked out by someone that can put some test equipment on the car and check the charging system and see if there is a vacuum leak, or fouled plug, low compression, etc. Unfortunetly it will cost labor. So is there amount you would be comfortable spending to diagnosis the car or would you rather just use that money for a down payment on something else? It is to bad it had to come to that, it time to make that decision, to fix or not to fix.