I'm a 20 year old female and know nothing about cars. About 2 years ago I bought a 2000 Ford taurus from a police auction. it was a detectives car with only 42,000 miles on it and im guessing they keep the cars very well maintained. I will be honest and say I have done nothing for my car except oil changes every 3k miles. i know there is other preventitive maintenance I should be doing, but I don't know what exactly?.
About 2 months ago my engine light started coming on. some days its on, somedays it isn't. my airbag light also comes on from time to time. and also another light i am not familure with has came on twice. it looks like a circular gear with a exclamation point inside it? and just within the past few days it has an issue starting up, like i have to turn the key twice to get it going. other than that i have no issues with the car running however, it does sound different then when I bought it. It makes a quiet "chug chug chug" sound almost like train, if that makes sense?
I guess I just wanted some opinions before i take it in later this week. and advice about prevenitive care. TIA
