Pontiac Repair: ABS brake light and Trac light is on, pontiac gran prix, antilock braking system

Question
Last night my ABS brake light, service engine light and trac light came on.  The car is a 2001 pontiac gran prix SE.  It has 100,000 miles on it.  The lights have never been on before.  I bought the car used, and have never had any major mechanical work done on it.  Am afraid of taking it to a dealership for fear they will take advantage of me and tell me more is wrong with my car than what actually is and then charge me over and above what the initial cost should be.  Would just like an idea as to what the problem is.
Thanks so much for your time
Adena

Answer
Without more background info like, what were you doing when they came on, did they all come on at the same time, was there a something funny the car was doing before this, then there is no real way to diagnose this. None of these lights are connected in any way. The check engine would indicate a sensor reading fault and will have a code stored for it. The ABS light would be a fault in the antilock braking system putting the abs offline but not affecting your brake system from being able to stop you. And the traction light meaning the system was activated due to a low traction condition. A dealer may not be your only choice, but a shop with a scan tool and a good diagnostic tech is required. Hope this is some help :)