Patent ID: 8874408

Claim:
A method for efficiently measuring the exterior coating thickness of a vehicle in the field to produce a vehicle condition report containing objective documentation reporting the condition of the body and paint of said vehicle, comprising: a) taking a plurality of measurements of the coating thickness of exterior body panels of a vehicle at predetermined locations in a predetermined sequence using a pocket-size, battery-powered coating thickness gauge, b) automatically storing said plurality of measurements of the coating thickness of exterior body panels of said vehicle at predetermined locations in a predetermined sequence in an internal memory in said gauge in a complete coating thickness data set using an internal program in said coating thickness gauge, c) starting a vehicle data set application program in a pocket-size, battery-powered device having a wireless receiver, an electronic circuit that wirelessly transmits data to a network, a display and an interface for user input, d) transmitting said plurality of measurements of the coating thickness of exterior body panels of said vehicle at predetermined locations in a predetermined sequence in said complete coating thickness data set wirelessly from said coating thickness gauge to said device, e) receiving said plurality of measurements of the coating thickness of exterior body panels of said vehicle at predetermined locations in a predetermined sequence in said complete coating thickness data set from said coating thickness gauge into said device, f) transmitting said data set from said device and, g) receiving said data set into a remote computer or a remote smartphone.