engine trouble on first car open to suggestions

[morganyou]

went looking around for a 1991 celica gts to purchse for my first car, i am 17 and thought it would be a cool sporty car to get and use in high school. these cars are not very popular at my high school and i ont see why not i love the style and performance of the car. so a fe days ago i found a car on craigs list just out side of the town i live in. i went and looked at the car which was a very solid 91 gts, tested it out it ran fine i purchased he car for 2000 and lwft for my drive home. on the way home the car started to make a weird noise, i pulled over and checked it out it seemed it was a loose belt so i continued home about another 3 miles and i found my self pulled over on the side of the road with a car that would not run. i could get it to start but it sounded very rough and would just stall out right away. got the ca towed to a repair shop. tuns out my first car wasnt as good of a deal that i was expecting it to be. any ideas of what this could be and any suggestions of what to do or cost on this repair. thanks

[SuperDave]

The description is too vague to pin point it over the internet. What does the repair shop think the problem is?

Was the weird noise a screech?

Was the rough running accompanied by any metal noises?

Before it starts does it seem as though the engine spins a bit too easily?

What was the idle when it would start?