When you picked up your car after its last service did you notice an oil change sticker slapped on your windscreen or dash.

Do you keep a regular check of the mileage you are doing? I know I don't, so I suspect that a lot of other people don't either. Well, to keep your car in good condition you should change your oil about every 3000 miles. Which works out at about every 3 months for the average user.

Can you remember what your mileage was when you last had an oil change? No, neither can I. Which is why garages and service stations supply you with the oil change stickers. Only if you did not get one at your last oil change because the garage was too tight fisted to supply one, how can you keep a check on your mileage and when your next oil change is due.

Now there are 2 ways you can do this. Method #1 is for the El Cheapo driver who does not give a toss what their car looks like.

Method #1
Find a scrap of paper and a pencil, and a bit of sticky tape. What was your mileage when you last changed the oil? Now add 3000 to that number and write the answer on the scrap of paper. When you have done that, take a piece of sticky tape, and tape the piece of paper to the inside of your windscreen, maybe in the bottom right hand corner or up next to the rear view mirror. Its better to have the numbers facing you, that way you do not have to keep taking it down, to find out when your next oil change is due. You should not have to take out an Auto Title Loan if you decide to go with this method.

Method #2
This is a very simple low cost method to make your own oil change sticker. Now you can have your sticker customised to match your car, or you can have it as detailed as you want it. Its your own sticker, and therefore its your own choice. And once again, you should not need to take out a Car Title Loan for this. But for the purposes of this instruction I have keep it fairly plain. Your sticker can look like this:

Inside View

As you can see this is a very unobrusive sticker, but is still something that you will notice and which you can update every time you do an oil change.

Heres how to make it:

If you have an image editor, please feel free to copy the image above and modify it to your taste. Or you can do the same with a word document. You simply add the touches you want to your own creation.

For Clipart images (such as the one at the bottom of this page) you can find plenty for free on the internet. Just go to google.com and do a search for "free clipart"

Once you are satisfied with your creation you need to get it printed off. Using a colour printer is obviously better, but if you do not have one, then you are gonna have to stick with black and white.

Now you may also want an "Outside View" so I have shown you an example below. These must be exactly the same size so that when you have cut them out and put them back to back, you do not have any edges overlapping.

Outside View

Now, you are most probably thinking, "Yep, looks OK, but what I really want is that shiny sticker look!"

You need 2 pieces of clingfilm. The first piece you wrap round the cut out creation, making sure that you keep it nice and tight, and then you write your next oil change mileage on it. You will need to use a felt tip pen, so that you can rub it off at a later date (Semi-Auto Updating)

The second piece of clingfilm needs to be bigger than your creation by about half an inch all round. Now, taking your new creation, with your next oil change mileage already written on it, you need to position it on the inside windscreen. It needs to be in a position that does not obstruct your view of the road, but also where you will notice it. The best places I have found are the bottom right hand corner or up by the rear view mirror. Or you could put it with your tax disc.

Place your sticker against the windscreen and place the clingfilm over it so that it is securely fixed in place. By pressing hard on the clingfilm you will be able to work out any creases, and the clingfilm will not be noticable from inside or outside of the car.

Heres a picture I took of a Very Customised Version I saw driving around Essex the other day. It looked good, but the owner had put it in the wrong way round. Make sure that you do not do the same

Looks Good..but wrong way round

So, there you have it, your very own Customisable, Semi-Auto Updating Oil Change Sticker. If you cannot be bothered with all the hassle of messing around with peces of paper and clingfilm, just go to google.com and do a search for oil change stickers. You should find plenty of sites that supply them.