.... A few times, it didn't want to start- cranks and cranks, finally fires ....
Sporadic issues like this are typically the most difficult to diagnose, because testing is impossible if the condition can't be reliably replicated on demand. But for this one, there are 2 VERY easy tests to try, which MIGHT help figure out what the root cause of the issue is.
This testing can produce valid and helpful results, only if your wife understands exactly when and how to try it. First thing is to establish the baseline number of cranks for a normal start. Make it simple and easy by telling her that a crank is one "rrr" sound. So if this vehicle typically never takes more than 3 cranks, that sound would be rrr--rrr--rrr. And if it normally always starts by 3 cranks or fewer, then use 5 (i.e. +2) as the number cranks that indicates a long-starting condition is taking place.
Once she understands what she's listening for, the rest is easy. Tell her to immediately stop cranking and turn the key to off, anytime she hears that magic number of cranks. Next step is for her to push the gas pedal all the way down to the floor, start cranking the engine again, and make sure to keep pushing the pedal to the floor while doing the cranking. Pedal to the floor while cranking is clear-flood-mode, and might resolve certain issues such as leaking injectors or evap system problems. Tell her not to continue cranking beyond the magic number with the pedal down, or repeating that same test again. If clear-flood-mode doesn't work immediately, then it's not part of the answer to the problem resolution. And you wrote that it will start eventually anyway, so you don't want to create a false positive test result when the vehicle eventually does start.
If clear-flood-mode doesn't work, then the other test to try immediately after that is to do additional priming of the fuel pump, by turning the key to the on position 3 times prior to cranking the engine. Very simple - key on for 2 seconds (on not start), then key off. That sequence gets repeated 3 times, and then start cranking the engine. If doing this produces a good, fast start, then that's the one to try on future no-starts. If this (or clear-flood-mode) consistently results in a fast start, after getting a long-crank condition, then that result should be very helpful in diagnosing the actual problem.
