HELP! Anyone know how many keys and romote entry come with a 2001 taurus SE

[taurus_king]

Hi, everyone

I just bought a '01 taurus. The seller gave me two keys and one remote entry control. Does anyone know how many keys and remote entry came with a new taurus 2001?

Thanks a lot!

[talonlover]

I would guess 2 of each, but you can buy the remotes all day long on e-bay for around 10 bucks. They are easy to program too.

[taurus_king]

Thanks talonlover!

That means the seller (private sale) may have kept another remote contol. Does that mean he still can drive my car if he also kept a spare key?

Don't laugh at me...it's my first car...

[sfontain]

Originally Posted by taurus_king

Thanks talonlover!

That means the seller (private sale) may have kept another remote contol. Does that mean he still can drive my car if he also kept a spare key?

Don't laugh at me...it's my first car...

Sure he can.

But all he needs is the key, forget about the remote. Everyone who has ever bought a used car potentially faces this risk. Consider yourself lucky. Your '01 has the SecuriLock system with the chips in the keys. The previous owner would have had to pay about $25 for an extra key. On older cars without the anti-theft key system, you could get any keymaker to fabricate spares for maybe $2 or $3 each.

Me, I bought a used '02 SES and it only came with ONE key. Thanks to Ford's BS anti-theft keys, it will cost me about $100 to get a spare key made if I choose to get one.

[taurus_king]

thanks to all who have read this post, especially who had replied it. Let me feel like in a warm big family...

Actually, I haven't get it yet. I made an offer this morning and paid $100 deposit. to do the rest of the things next friday. Because I just got my driver's licence last month and never drove a car before, it's is totally new for me... Does anyone know how to check a car's history? the car looks great but i don't what happened to it before...

glad to meet all u guys!

[sfontain]

Originally Posted by taurus_king

thanks to all who have read this post, especially who had replied it. Let me feel like in a warm big family...

Actually, I haven't get it yet. I made an offer this morning and paid $100 deposit. to do the rest of the things next friday. Because I just got my driver's licence last month and never drove a car before, it's is totally new for me... Does anyone know how to check a car's history? the car looks great but i don't what happened to it before...

glad to meet all u guys!

You did a smart thing by buying a reasonably new used vehicle.

You can check a car's history at www.carfax.com but it will cost you around $20 to register. You get the car's vehicle identification number (VIN), enter it into Carfax, and it tells you about the car's history.

Also, depending what state your in, if you look hard on your state's DMV website, you may be able to execute a free title inquiry, which will tell you when the car changed ownership and a few other things *in your state only*.

[taurus_king]

Originally Posted by sfontain

You did a smart thing by buying a reasonably new used vehicle.

You can check a car's history at www.carfax.com but it will cost you around $20 to register. You get the car's vehicle identification number (VIN), enter it into Carfax, and it tells you about the car's history.

Also, depending what state your in, if you look hard on your state's DMV website, you may be able to execute a free title inquiry, which will tell you when the car changed ownership and a few other things *in your state only*.

Thanks for your information. I compared several cars(euro's, japan's,...), taurus has a reasonable price with good performance.

because i will pick it up on next friday, I still have some time to check it before i pay. The only thing I know is that it's an off-lease car (was leased two times ). this owner bought from dealer in last July and went back to Italy on Sep. The car is sitting in the garage whole winter. Now his cousen is helping him selling the car. anything i should keep in mind?

[sfontain]

Just make sure you have a mechanic look at it before you buy it.

[CharlotteHawk]

This may sound quite simple but make sure he has both a clear title and if he is not the owner be sure he has authority to sell the car.

[Willyum]

Reputable dealers usually have a contract with CarFax and will provide you with a report if you ask for it. If they refuse, get suspicious.

[taurus_king]

Originally Posted by Willyum

Reputable dealers usually have a contract with CarFax and will provide you with a report if you ask for it. If they refuse, get suspicious.

I have checked it with CARFAX and proved its clean history except:

==========================
It was driven an average of 28,145 miles per year, which is higher than
the industry average of 15,000. The last odometer reading, reported on 04/21/2004, was 50,975 miles.

It was a fleet vehicle in a fleet manage company.
==============================

Is it all right?

[sfontain]

Originally Posted by taurus_king

I have checked it with CARFAX and proved its clean history except:

==========================
It was driven an average of 28,145 miles per year, which is higher than
the industry average of 15,000. The last odometer reading, reported on 04/21/2004, was 50,975 miles.

It was a fleet vehicle in a fleet manage company.
==============================

Is it all right?

That is a LOT of miles, relatively, in a year. If this is a private sale, ask the owner why the mileage is so high. Generally it's better if they say it was driven 75 miles a day on internstate highway, not 75 miles a day in stop-and-go city traffic.

If it's not a private sale, check on CarFax for indications that the car was a rental or fleet vehicle. I, personally, would stay far away from previous rental vehicles. Fleet vehicles are a matter of personal preference; it can be hard to find previously-privately owned vehicles for sale through a dealer, so you may more or less be stuck with a fleet car if you buy through a dealer. My '02 was a fleet car according to CarFax, and I've had no trouble with it. Just make absolutely sure that a mechanic or someone else who really knows what they're doing takes a long, thorough look at any car before you buy it.

A high mileage rate isn't inherently bad; it just indicates that the car will probably have more wear and also cost less than the same car with half as many miles. If you don't want to spend the extra money on a different car with fewer miles, then certainly you are probably better to buy, for example, a 3-year old car with 60K miles rather than a 6-year-old car with 60K miles. Cars advance in quality and technology on a yearly basis, so, in my personal experience and opinion newer is usually better than older, figuring in the price difference, even if you have to sacrifice a little bit of mileage.