Category Archives: Safety

Teddy bear sitting on the back seat of a car

What Not to Do if You Have a Toddler in Your Vehicle?

Top 5 Things to Avoid When Traveling with a Toddler in Your Vehicle

Traveling with a toddler can be both exciting and challenging. While the joy of exploring new places together is unparalleled, the constant energy and unpredictability of a young child can make the journey a bit more complicated. It’s essential to know what not to do when you have a toddler in your vehicle to have a safe and pleasant trip for everyone. Read this blog by our team at Third Coast Auto Group in Austin, TX, to learn more.

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A dog safely secured in a crate in the back of an SUV

4 Essential Tips for Traveling with Pets

Four Essentials Travel Tips to Follow When Traveling with Pets  

Are you traveling with Pets? Consider these four essential travel tips from Third Coast Auto Group in Austin, TX, to learn about the safety and precautions you need to take when traveling with your furry friend. Since we travel with our pets regularly, most people sometimes miss out on practicing car safety norms. Join us at Third Coast Auto Group to discuss the four essential tips you must follow when traveling with pets. Pet parents! What are you waiting for? Continue reading to learn more.

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A stock photo of a person using a checklist to inspect a vehicle.

The miles on the odometer won’t tell the whole story

How many miles is too many for a car to have? 

The lifespan of a car, truck or SUV is measured with an opaque formula involving years and miles. To be sure the number of years a vehicle has been on the road is important, but that isn’t much of a measuring stick without the context of how many miles are driven. Making things more difficult, the reverse of that statement is also true. So, the answer to the question, how many miles is too many for a car to have, doesn’t really have a magic number. A vehicle could have 200,000-plus miles on the odometer and be in better shape than a comparable model that is only a few years old with fewer recorded miles. The difference really comes down to, how was the vehicle cared for. Let’s take a look at a few things you should know.  Read the rest of this entry >>

A stock photo of a person walking through snow because their car wouldn't start.

Warming up your car in cold weather is a long-lasting automotive myth

Do I need to warm up my car before driving in the cold? 

The dangerously unseasonable weather that is gripping Texas has really been a wake-up call. When weather patterns are this far out of the norm, people need to learn some new skills to deal with the cold. One of the most common questions that people have when the mercury dips this low is, ‘Do I need to warm up my car before driving in the cold?’ There are two answers to this question, depending on the context. If you don’t want to get into a cold vehicle, then sure warm it up. However, as far as helping the engine perform better in cold temperatures, this is an outdated idea. It might have been true in the old days when we drove vehicles without fuel injection, but that time has largely ended. Let’s take a closer look at some additional information.  Read the rest of this entry >>

A stock photo of a person sitting behind the wheel of their car.

New drivers don’t need several hundred-horsepower

How do I pick out a car for a new driver? 

There are few more exciting milestones for a person to reach than getting their driver’s license. Once those new drivers have their license to drive, they will need something to drive. Third Coast Auto Group product experts get asked, ‘How do I pick out a car for a new driver,’ quite a lot. On any given day there are several pairs of nervous parents and excited teenage drivers looking around our showrooms. Buying a brand new, high-performance vehicle for a new driver is not only not practical, but it’s wholly inadvisable, according to traffic safety experts. Over the years our team has learned what does and does not make a good first vehicle. Let’s take a look at a few things you might need to know.  Read the rest of this entry >>

Several masked doctors stand ready to take on the coronavirus

How many cases of the coronavirus are in Austin, TX?

Travis Country Coronavirus Infection Rates

The coronavirus has hit the US hard, with currently more (reported and confirmed) cases here than anywhere else in the world. But the intensity currently varies quite a bit from place to place, with New York and NYC being the unfortunate first epicenter.

How many cases (and deaths) have there been so far in the Austin and Travis Country area?

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Cars on road with head and tail lights shining with how to change a headlight in text box

How to Change Headlights

Step-by-Step Instructions for Replacing Headlights

Having working headlights on your vehicle is a necessity for driving at night and in inclement weather. If you don’t use your headlights from sunset to sunrise, you are endangering the safety of others as well as your own. Additionally, you may receive a ticket for failure to use headlights that can cost up to $200 and you may also be required to attend driving classes. These are only a few reasons why it is important to have two working headlights and maintain optimal visibility. Luckily, if your headlights burn out, you can replace them at home! Check out the step-by-step instructions for replacing headlights below. Read the rest of this entry >>

An overheated car stranded on the road

What can cause a warped cylinder head?

Having a misshapen cylinder head can lead to some pretty big problems in your vehicle. Like, really big- it could damage your engine so much that the whole mechanism needs to be replaced. Instead of dealing with that, the best path to take is to prevent your cylinder head from ever getting harmed in the first place.

In order to prevent a cylinder head from warping, you need to know: what causes a warped cylinder head, and what should I do to prevent it?

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