How to measure vehicle paint thickness using the Elcometer 311 Automotive Paint Meter

Electronic or digital paint coating thickness gauges provide a reliable and quantifiable method of accurately assessing the paintwork quality.


By measuring paint thickness, the new Elcometer 311 identifies any hidden rework on a vehicle, which is not often found in public or commercial condition reports, making it an ideal gauge for the vehicle remarketing and vehicle valuation services.

The Elcometer 311 Automotive Paint Meter makes detecting hidden automotive bodywork damage easier and faster.

Using an Elcometer 311 Auto Paint Meter in a pre-purchase inspection allows you to quickly identify hidden rework, impact damage, respray and filled body panels, which can all affect a car’s resale value.

With a reading rate of 60+ readings per minute, the new Elcometer 311 Automotive Paint Meter is the fastest automotive paint thickness gauge on the market today, allowing the user to quickly determine the extent of rework and the overall quality of the vehicle being appraised.

Extremely high or low thickness readings indicate where previous repairs have occurred - providing a valuable insight into the overall condition of the paint work.

With instant material recognition, the Elcometer 311 Paint Meter switches between steel and aluminium panels - ideal for the luxury car market.

And if you are working with your own inspection app, the new Elcometer 311 Automotive Paint Meter has Bluetooth® – allowing all the paint measurements to seamlessly pass to your Android™ or Apple® mobile device in real time.

The Elcometer 311 Automotive Paint Meter:

  • instantly switches between steel & aluminium panels
  • is the fastest automotive paint meter at 60+ readings per minute
  • is pre-calibrated to use straight from the box

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