I just got this Mac from my grandma because she said it wasn't working. It boots and lets me go into recovery mode but crashes in a similar way whenever a loading bar starts. I've tried booting every different way and cleared nvram. I didn't see any clearly visible damage on the logic board, and I'm willing to try any ideas as long as I can keep the price of fixing this under $100.
Old Intel model?
Try flushing the NVRAM, PRAM, and SMC.
I’ve seen weird issues when settings in there get corrupted. Worth a shot.
It’s really the only hope for a sub $100 repair. If it’s not that, it’s hardware, and we all know Apple makes it so that hardware repair is priced to make a new device a better choice.
Just find one with a busted screen on eBay and swap the boards out.