How to stick a Road Tax

Its that time of the year where you will need to renew your car's/bus's/lorry's/bike's/tank's/etc Road Tax. Unlike a few years ago where you just replace the piece of paper (which anyone can do). The Government decided to make our lives more interesting by introducing a piece of fragile cra..... er, sticker. The sticker has cuts in it which if you're not careful when peeling, it breaks. And with inconsistent production quality, which if you're not careful when peeling, it breaks too.

Why they did this was because a few naughty people decided to swap their road tax in their cars. So, the new sticker is to prevent them from having a good time. Yeah, right. If I got a torn sticker, all I have to do is show it to the people at the Post Office, pay RM50 and I have a new sticker again.

Removing them from the windshield every year is a pain in the butt. I mean, when you leave your car under the Sun, you can be pretty sure that the glue in the sticker would act more than just glue. Therefore, peeling that hardened sticker (which breaks to pieces) is only adviseable when you are really in a very very good mood.

I came across this idea years ago when I was tinting my car. What I did was to stick the sticker (heh) to the tinted film and then stick them to the windshield. When its time to remove it, I just peel the tinted film and the whole thing comes off easily without any fuss. It has to be tinted film (not too dark) because of its hardness. If you decide to use those soft plastics, you will have a lot of bubbles in the sticker and it might not even stick properly.

Getting a small portion of tinted film is not that difficult. Just go to any car accessory shop and ask POLITELY. They usually have a bit left after tinting a car. If not, make sure the shop you go to, belongs to your friend whom you helped support generously enough for them to buy a house/castle.


So, here is how its done:



You will need:
1) Latest copy of the Road Tax
2) A very sharp blade/knife
3) Tint film
4) Metal ruler


Cut the tint film (slightly larger than the road tax) to size
Note the circled area, where I split the film from its backing transparent plastic so I can tell which side is which


Peel the road tax and stick to the tinted film. Make sure its on the tinted side, and not the transparent plastic or else it will be a horrible experience for you


Then using a sharp knife, cut off the excess film but leave about 1mm border
So that next year, you will remember there is a tint film there and not scratch the windshield


Carefully peel of the transparent backing film and wet the tinted side with soap & water


Wet the windshield with more soap & water and position your road tax
Wipre off excess later with a dry cloth


Ta-daaa! All done and Wifey will love you

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice idea bro!

As for me, since my windscreen is tinted, I stick the road-tax on a transparency and use those "plasticky sheet" (sorry, dun know the name) to hold it.