A car sticker has a few seconds to be read: about the time the car behind you spends looking at your bumper at the lights. That one fact decides almost everything about a good car sticker: the size, how many words go on it, and where it goes.
This guide covers the kinds of car stickers, what size reads from the next car, what they cost, and how to put them on (and take them off) without hurting the paint.
What kinds of car stickers are there?
- Bumper stickers — the long, narrow format, from 4 × 10cm up to 6 × 24cm. Made for one short line: a slogan, a business name, a website, a club.
- Logo stickers — a die cut sticker cut to the outline of a logo or mascot, for a rear window corner, a door or a toolbox.
- Business vehicle stickers — a name and phone number on a ute, van or trailer. Bigger again, and usually on the doors or tailgate.
- Fun and fan stickers — funny slogans, footy teams, stick-figure families. Same rules apply: short, bold and clear.
What size car sticker can people read?
Sign makers work on roughly 1cm of letter height for every 1.2 metres of viewing distance. The car behind you at the lights is around 4 metres away, so letters need to be about 3.5cm tall to be read from there.
The chart assumes the text is about half the sticker's height, which leaves room for a border or a logo. A bumper sticker with one short line in letters that fill most of its height reads further than this. A few practical rules:
- Five words or fewer. Nobody reads a paragraph at the lights.
- Heavy, plain lettering. Thin, decorative and script fonts lose legibility first.
- Strong contrast. Dark text on a light background, or the reverse. Mid-tone on mid-tone disappears in sunlight.
- For a business, the name and one way to contact you. A web address is easier to remember than a phone number.
To see how a size looks on the back of a car, try our decal size planner.
Where should a sticker go on a car?
On the body, not the glass, wherever you can: the bumper, the tailgate, a door or a toolbox. Body panels are largely free of sticker rules; windows and number plates are not. A small sticker in the corner of a rear window is common, but the windscreen and front side windows need to stay clear. The details, including where the states differ, are in our guide to car and ute decals: what's legal where.
How much do custom car stickers cost?
Our current prices, with free standard shipping Australia-wide:
| Sticker | 10 | 100 |
|---|---|---|
| Bumper sticker, 4 × 10cm | $21 | $75 |
| Bumper sticker, 5 × 20cm | $39 | $141 |
| Bumper sticker, 6 × 24cm | $57 | $172 |
| Die cut logo, 10 × 10cm | $40 | $143 for 130 |
For a car club, a business giving them to customers or a fundraiser, the bigger quantities bring the price per sticker right down. Our guide to stickers for clubs and schools works through the fundraising maths.
Will a car sticker damage the paint?
On sound factory paint, a vinyl sticker usually comes off cleanly when you want it gone. A few things help:
- Apply to clean, dry paint in the shade, not a hot panel in full sun. Our guide to applying a decal without bubbles walks through it.
- Wait a day or two before a car wash, and don't aim a pressure washer straight at the sticker's edge.
- To remove one, warm it first with a hairdryer, lift a corner with a fingernail or a plastic card, and peel back slowly at a low angle. Any leftover adhesive comes off with a little eucalyptus oil or adhesive remover, then a wash.
- Resprayed or old, chalky paint is the exception. Paint that is already failing can come away with a sticker, so test removal somewhere hidden first.
Paint under a sticker is shaded while the paint around it weathers, so after several years in the sun you may see a faint outline when it comes off. A polish usually blends it back in.
How long do car stickers last?
Our stickers are printed on premium vinyl with a protective laminate, rated for up to five years outdoors. On a car, the bumper and tailgate fare better than the roof or bonnet, which take the full force of the Australian sun. Why the sun matters so much is explained in how long vinyl stickers last outdoors.
Ready to order? Start with bumper stickers for slogans and names, or die cut stickers for logos. We check every file free, print in Sydney within 1–2 business days and ship free Australia-wide.
