When I turn my car on, the coolant gauge immediately goes up to the middle lever (I have a picture of it attached). Is this a good thing, a not so good thing, or is it normal? It seems to me that the coolant temperature shouldn't be this hot, but I don't know much about cars, so I have no idea if a mid-level temp is okay or not.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

I will assume you mean it gets to this level quickly after starting driving as opposed to going right to that level when you turn the car on. But that would be the normal temp for your engine to run at, on a hot day when you are in traffic with the ac on you may see it go higher but it should not get up to the red in normal situations, if it does you should get it checked...