Starter problems of the 1998 Mercury Mystique

Approx. 3 weeks ago, the original battery in my car was completely dead . It had showed no signs of losing power prior to that day. I bought a new battery and when I hooked it up the engine started turning over. The keys were in my pocket. As a result the starter died. I had the car towed to a local service station. They replaced the starter and a cracked serpantine belt. A few days later I was driving from NJ to PA when I heard a strange buzzing sound under my hood and I smelt the faint smell of something burning. I pulled over, turned off the ignition and looked under the hood. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. The car would not start back up. I had it towed to a near bye service station. Again the starter had to be replaced along with a burned relay wire and a battery. When I went to pick the car up, the new battery had died and we noticed some more burnt wires near the fuse box. I than had the car towed to haldeman Lincoln Mercury in allentown, PA 610-797-5005. Until this point I was reluctant to take my car to the dealer because they had been extremely unresponsive to past issues I have had with the transmission shifting delayed and hard and also with the check engine light and a engine timing issue. These issues happened right after my warranty expired and despite three seperate letters to Ford, the company did nothing to address my situation. I conveyed this entire story to the service advisor, mike siemons, at haldeman Lincoln Mercury dealership and he gave me the customer service number for Ford. On 2/10/01 I spoke with a customer service rep. Who stated that he would relay my report to a area account rep. Who would help remedy my problem. I was informed the rep. Would call me by the end of business today. So far he has not called. The dealership informed me today that I needed to pay $2k+ for a new wire harness and a 3rd starter in as many weeks. They attribute the problem to a battery that leaked acid. This isn't the proble.