HEEEEEEEEELP!! just bought troubled car

[Lostone01]

I just bought a 94 SE last Thursday. I trust the dealer, as this is the fourth car we have purchased from him, BUT this time....Even the mechanics are at a loss. When we bought it there was a "shimmy" when u hit about 50, which stopped once u got past 60. Stuck it in the "doctor's" yesterday. Mechanic says, nothing wrong. Everything looks very good with it. Well now it seems to be "shimmying" more, and starts around 40 or 45 now. Oh by the way, by shimmy, I mean, the dang car is gonna fall apart from the way this thing shakes. It doesn't matter what gear you are in. Brakes, Gas, Drive, Nuetral, same thing. Ball joint, cv joint, etc all look good, and fairly new. The worst news we had was that the cv joint was slightly tight, but not enough to cause this according to him. The one tire had a flat spot on it, so he swapped the tires, no better. It seems to be coming from the passenger side front wheel. Any clue what could be causing this? Next issue......There is definitely some kind of electrical issue. When we bought the car the power locks worked, cig lighter worked, everything worked. Right after we got it, hubby jumped a curb on the passenger side and scraped the bottom. Whether this is coincidental or not, everything stopped working LITERALLY right after that. Now all the sudden there is a burning smell. Smells like when u melt the plastic coating on a wire. Well this continues to get worse, and now there is a very nice smoking coming with it, again on passenger side right by the windshield or by the firewall. Not sure if the smell and smoke are linked to the electrical issue, because again, no one sees anything. Since I've had the car, a week tomorrow, she has spent more days at the car doctor than she has in my parking spot. HELP!!! anyone have any ideas???

[GTP Dad]

First find another mechanic and have him check it out. If you changed tires did you change wheels? Sometimes a bent rim can cause similar problems. My bet would be on the cv joint being bad as they usually start at a certain speed and level out once the car gets faster, especially under acceleration. As for the stuff not working, you must have a short causing this problem especially since it smells like melted plastic and there is smoke coming from under the dash. Check the wiring under the dash. Some of the newer Grand Am's had fuse panels on the right side as well as the left. Check that out. Hope this helps!

[Lostone01]

Well one of the two problems is solved. The smoke and burning smell turned out to a brake caliper that was sticking. This heated up bad enough that the hub cap actually started to melt. Well, needless to say, it now has new rotors, shoes and calipers on it. That calmed down the shimmy and shake a little bit but not all of it. So I am now going to take the advice and have the tires and rims checked.

As for the mechanic, well it has been in to 2 different ones and they gave the CV joints a good rating on them.