Oil smears along dipstick?

Question

When checking the oil on my friend’s car, I noticed that there were some oil smears along the length of the dipstick, which I had wiped prior.

The first time I checked the oil, there was a bit more. The second time, there was a bit less but there were still 2 or 3 places along the dipstick with some oil on them.

It looks like this:

Is this normal?

Answer 1

As you pull the dipstick out of the tube, you'll leave oil behind from the tip where there's a bit of oil to show the oil level. When you restick the dipstick and pull it back out, you could get some oil on the shaft of the dipstick. I would not worry about this one little bit.