Broken sunroof, what's the problem?

Hi, everyone. Apologize in advance if this has been asked before. Searched the threads but didn't see anything that really helped as of yet.

I have a '99 Mercury Cougar. It has an automatic sunroof that isn't working. If you push the button, it sounds like it wants to open, but it doesn't move. You can hear the motor (I think) kinda struggling along, but nada. It's been like this since I bought the car, so I can't say for certain how long it's done it for. There's no visible damage around the sunroof or that general area from what I can tell, though, if that makes any difference. I wish I could be more descriptive, but my knowledge of cars ends at turning the key and pushing the pedal.

Is there a history of this with the type of car I have? Is it worth taking it to a garage? Any safe assumptions on what it could be? I don't know any mechanic types out here (college) that can do it for me for less than a garage would charge, and obviously, my '99 Cougar isn't worth dumping, say, a thousand bucks into. I assume it would be much cheaper if it were one thing and not the other, but I have no idea how to differentiate any of the potential problems. (Thus, coming to you great folks.)

Thanks to anyone who responds, appreciate the help.

If the motor sounds like it's having trouble, I'd say its either burned out or the drive mechanism for the roof is stuck. Put your hand on the glass and see if you can feel it trying to move.

If the motor sounds like it's having trouble, I'd say its either burned out or the drive mechanism for the roof is stuck. Put your hand on the glass and see if you can feel it trying to move.
I can't tell if the motor itself is having trouble, or if there's something in the way preventing it from moving, or if it's not correctly placed on its tracks anymore, etc. There seems to be a little movement if I put my hand there, but again, it could be a simple vibration type feeling caused by a broken motor, I assume.

Any idea how much a burned out motor/stuck mechanism would run me? Thanks for responding!

I don't see any parts for sale, but it doesn't look too difficult to get to the motor to inspect it. You should be fine with a junkyard motor if you feel confident enough to fix it.

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/dd/49/0900823d801bdd49/repairInfoPages.htm

I don't see any parts for sale, but it doesn't look too difficult to get to the motor to inspect it. You should be fine with a junkyard motor if you feel confident enough to fix it.

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/dd/49/0900823d801bdd49/repairInfoPages.htm

School doesn't leave me much time to do anything but work and study, and, to be honest...I'm not very confident in my ability to do it anyway! Might have to ask around and see how cheap any garages would do it for if I supplied the motor. Thank you for the help, again!

It looks like a 10 minute parts swap. I wouldn't expect more than 50-100 bucks to have it diagnosed and installed.