Used Cars: 99 Grand Am, engine vibration, pontiac grand am

Question
I'm interested in buying a 99 Pontiac Grand Am, 4 cylinder. Now i brought it to a mechanic who found the following problems. The engine shakes when it starts, this concerned the first mechanic but the second one said it was normal for the type of engine and that there is something wround the engine to keep the car from shaking. The second problem is when you brake from a high speen the brakes squeek and make a weird noise. It could be the rotors or the breaks we couldn't tell. The dealar said they would take a look at it and fix this problem. The engine doesnt really concern me though. The car has 94,000 miles on it and i was wondering if it would be worth it if the rotors/brakes are fixed? Also i was wondering if the engine shaking is a concern in the Grand Am?

Answer
That car fixed is probably worth $3000 to $4000, maybe a little more if it was really nice with some eye appeal.  Now as for the engine shaking, 2 things, it is pretty normal for those to have a little vibration, but it really needs to have the motor mounts checked as well as the harmonic balancer.  It should not be a real noticeable vibration from sitting inside the car.  The brakes are probably not that big of deal, somebody has probably put a cheap set of brake pads on it or something.  I would be more concerned with the engine vibration and though it is probably a simple fix, the other thing to keep in the back of your mind is the 4 cylinders in Pontiac Grand Ams do not have the best reputation, if it was a 98 or older, I would tell you to avoid it, but the 99 and newers have not appeared to be as bad as the older ones, but if it is a quad 4 cylinder, make sure the vibration is 100% fixed, just to be safe.  Good luck and I hope all goes well.