What are oil change stickers?

Changing your car’s motor oil is one of the most critical car maintenance jobs. Forgetting to change it can have dire consequences for the engine. An oil change sticker can be a great way of reminding you when a change is due.

What’s so bad about old motor oil?
Oil looses it ability to lubricate moving parts when it gets older. It become contaminated with chemicals and leftovers from the combustion process (turning it black). Old oil is also saturated with dirt and fragments of metal that have broken away from the engine, preventing it from holding anymore debris (as it is designed to do).

New motor oil needs a new oil filter
A change of motor oil should also be accompanied by a new oil filter. A blocked filter can put a strain on the oil pump until the pressure release value will allow the unfiltered oil. If this happens the dirt and metal in the oil can circulate around the engine where it can act as an abrasive agent between moving parts causing more wear and tear, increasing the volume of space the oil has to fill and therefore lowering the oil pressure. You oil pressure sensor will tell you this but don’t let it stay on for long before you take action to fix the pressure issue.

What are these stickers and where do they go?
For many people an oil change is such an infrequent event that it’s easy to forget one is due. If it take a year or two to clock up the necessary miles it’s hard to remember unless you’re very organised and diarise it or maybe you can’t be sure it was changed at the last service? (incidentally, it is worth asking the dealer who services your car if a service does include an oil change, some don’t). If you’ve forgotten the last change date or don’t know it because the car is new to you then it’s difficult for the typical motorist to be able to tell from looking at their oil that it needs a change. You need help. An oil change sticker can give you help. It’s reminder that goes on the inside of the windshield. It should include the date of your most recent oil change and the anticipated mileage when your car will need its next one. You just fill it out after an oil change and stick it on. You can even get stickers to remind you when to change your motorcycle oil too.

Often oil change window stickers are used by the garage that does your routine service or looks after your car. They are usually branded with the name or log of the garage. It’s a great marketing tool for them as it means you see their brand everyday (consciously or otherwise) and when the time comes they will be the first company you think off. Of course, this is the theory and it probably works if backed up by competitive prices and excellent customer service.

What if change my own oil?
Well done! As a private individual you won’t have any real need for a set of oil change stickers but if you find it hard to keep notes or forget to write down when the change was made they could be of some use to you. You can get generic oil change stickers but the pre-printed ones can usually only be bought in batches of hundreds or thousands. If you ask at the local garage they might give you one or two as long as you don’t mind their logo on it.

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