The starter does not screech. It started as a simple whirr, but it's now progressed to sounding like it almost catches for a split second and then whirrs. Not really an annoying sound other than you've gotta do it about a dozen times. (I came to the same conclusion as you did, here. Didn't even think about the flywheel being broken. If I thought that were the case, it'd already be in the junkyard.)

And I don't like the car. I hate the fact that I own an SUV without having stuff to carry in it, and it's been a pain in the ass for most of the time that I've owned it.