The Best Automotive Multimeters (Review & Buying Guide) in 2018

When selecting a new multimeter, as with any other product, one of the important considerations is the price tag. After all, if we had unlimited money, we wouldn’t even bother to buy a multimeter. We’d just pay a guy to hang around and every now and then lick the car battery terminals – if his hair stood on the end, the voltage is probably ok.

Here in reality we have to test our cars, and we certainly do not suggest you lick you own battery. Instead, we suggest you buy a multimeter, but as we mentioned already, they have a price and that can price can be steep. If you buy a cheap model on the other hand, you may lose some functionality that is found on more premium versions.

That’s not the case here. This digital multimeter from Etekcity is not just staking a claim as perhaps the best automotive mulitmeter to make our list, it could also be the best budget multimeter too. For less than 30 bucks you get an auto ranging model that measures AC Current, AC & DC voltage, resistance and also provides diode and continuity tests. It also has very useful features such as a hold mode (freezes the screen so you can write down results) and an auto sleep that avoids draining the batteries.

Chock full of features, able to test everything you need and a price tag that won’t leave you weak at the knees – no wonder this is one of the most popular automotive digital multimeters on the market.

It’s no “Fluke” that this is not the only product from this company to make our list. See what we did there? Clever, huh. Fluke are, terrible puns aside, a world-renowned company when it comes to producing high-end electrical testing equipment, including multimeters.

This is a true premium model that can measure a wide range of electrical impulses. Not only does it do that however, it does it with incredible accuracy, being a True RMS device. Check out the buying guide below to see what that means, but for now just know that True RMS is the keyword for unrivalled accuracy.

But here’s the thing with this model – it may be a bit too accurate. Or rather, it may be a bit too premium for what we’re looking for. It has a price tag of nearly 200 bucks, making it easily the second most expensive model to make our list – oh, and spoiler alert, the most expensive model is the other Fluke multimeter that we’ll get to later!

The fact is it also category III safety cleared also just tells us this may be a little to feature packed for it’s own good. This safety rating means it can be used on devices with up to 600 volts of power. For comparison, your car battery kicks out between 12 and 14 volts. Oh, but you do get a free case, so there’s a bit of value for money there.

Our next automotive digital multimeter comes from AstraAl and it has a few interesting features on board. First thing to note is that it is designed to measure the full range of AC/DC voltage, DC Current, Resistance and can perform diode and continuity testing.

All of that is controlled with a simple twist grip dial, which makes it very easy to use. The date is also presented to you on a very bright – and also backlit – LCD screen that is clean and uncluttered. It also has a kickstand built in, so you don’t have to hold it in your hand whilst you work. That’s a useful little safety feature to free up your hands and something we’d like to see on more models frankly. It contains very overload protection to help keep you safe.

The big stand out is the fact it is a troubleshooting model too. It can troubleshoot electrical issues which can be handy when you are testing your car, but it can also be used for training too. a lot of well though out features have been crammed into this tool.

An Innova multimeter is always good to see, as Innova is another company with a well-earned reputation for producing great tools. Unlike Fluke, they also have a rep for producing tools that you don’t have to remortgage the family farm to buy. They’ve kept up that strong tradition here with a model that boasts a lot of useful features for a very low price tag.

The very first thing we have to point out is the fact that this is a digital multimeter with built in auto range and also with a price tag of under 20 bucks. It’s only just under, true, but you get still get change from a twenty which is superb value for any device with auto ranging.

Other than that it is very easy to use with an intuitive color-coded display/built in LEDs that almost walk you through the operation of the device. It is UL safety certified, has a neat little built in stand and a really big display that is nice and easy to read. It’s a pretty basic, entry-level design, but it will still do quite a lot for a relatively small amount of money.

This is our second entry from Etekcity, and another strong contender for best budget multimeter. We should point out right from the start that this is a very budget model, and we’re not just talking price. Although with a tag of about 15 bucks, that is certainly worth highlighting as one of the selling points here.

But it’s also a pretty basic model with few of the bells and whistles you would expect to see on other, high-end models. There is no Auto Range feature for example. On the other hand, the sample range of 3 samples per second is actually pretty good, especially for a budget model. It is also easy to use, although the front display is a little crowded.

The screen is not crowded however, and presents information clearly and is backlit for better readability in dark environments – useful for then you are working in the guts of your car. The display is four digits, so it is not as accurate as more premium models.

This is a very simple design with a very attractive price.

AstroAl are back here with a product that is bursting with useful – and frankly premium level – features. The two stand outs are True RMS and Auto Ranging, two very useful features that you would not expect to find on a model at this price point.

Aside from that you will find the troubleshoot options we saw on the previous AstroAl model. You can also perform continuity tests, temperature and diode tests. You will find a useful multifunction socket on this model too. That allows you to plug components directly into the multimeter, a really useful feature to see.

Safety is also a big concern of this model. It has the usual over load protections that you would expect for example. But AstroAl have gone a little further, and installed ceramic, explosion proof fuse tubes for a little extra protection. Add in the very useful magnetic hanging point and you have a digital multimeter that is very well designed and built.

See the second word up there in the name of this product? It’s pocket, which is an appropriate name really, as this multimeter is nice and small. It’s also orange which is a nice change, not a color you see very often with these devices. The fact we are talking about the color, nice as it is, should give you a good idea of the main issue with this device.

The main issue is that there is nothing special about it. Yes, it’s about 20 bucks so it’s good value. But we’ve seen basic designs that simply pack in that little bit more bang for your (limited) buck.

There are some useful features here, the multi ended test wires are good to see, ending in both banana and alligator style attachments. It has a well designed, backlit screen and as we said it is nice and small. It’s a CE certified design with an easy to use control dial too.

You know what, we are being a little unfair to this one, maybe we haven’t had enough fiber in our diets today and it’s making us cranky. This is a decent, if unspectacular, basic model of multimeter with a pretty good price tag.

Many of the models of multimeter we’ve looked at on this list are not designed with cars and trucks in mind. Don’t worry, they will still do a great job on any vehicle, but it is nice to see that this Innova multimeter is specially designed to be used on vehicle based electrical systems.

That means it specially designed to pinpoint engine problems, whist also being able to protect itself from overloads. It has a temperature measure built in to measure resistance in circuits and it can also be used to test alternator diodes, breaker points and electrical switches – just about every component within the vehicle’s electrical system in fact.

It also has a number of highly practical features. For example, auto-ranging is built right in, which should be a huge time saver. We mentioned the overload protection but it also has built in safe guards against reverse polarity for an added level of protection.

This is a really well designed and well-made automotive multimeter. Of course, and here’s the kicker, when we describe things as well made and well designed, that is also code for expensive. This little tool is going to set you back in the region of 70 bucks. Not the most expensive on the list but certainly not the cheapest either. You are getting a very high quality, automotive specific tool for your hard earned cash however.

This is the cheapest item on the list. Lets get that out the way right at the top. You will get change from 10 bucks and that is crazy good value. Do you know what else? This isn’t a bad multimeter either.

No, you will not be getting all of the bells and whistles that will be present on premium models. You will however get auto-ranging. Yep, auto-ranging, for 10 bucks. You will also get a device with a very simple to use interface, and a nice bright LCD screen. It can measure voltage and current across both AC and DC systems. It can also measure current and resistance.

And that’s about it, we have noting to add! Yes, on the one hand it is a very cheap model and it is very basic and it will probably need to be calibrated and it may not be the most absolutely accurate multimeter on the market.

But it costs 10 bucks! If you want bells and whistles and accuracy dig a little deeper into your wallet. If you want something that will probably get the job done in 9 cases out of 10 and costs the same as a pizza, take a look at this.

We finish up the list with this Fluke automotive multimeter, and we stepped straight from Bargainville with the last product into Big Bucks City with this one. Lets get this out the way first so we don’t waste your time, this is an expensive tool. We’re talking about 400 bucks. Yes. 400. Greenbacks. Go get yourself a glass of water then come back.

Fact is, this is the best automotive multimeter on the planet. But we can tell you right now it won’t be our top pick at the very bottom of this guide, because we know that most people won’t drop that kind of money on a multimeter. And that’s fine, but if you do then you are getting one heck of a tool here.

Obviously, it does everything that you would expect of such a premium tool. It measures volts, it measures resistance, it measures temperature, it measures everything you would expect. But it is the accuracy that’s amazing. When you are measuring on a DC system, your readings will be accurate to a margin of error of 0.1%.

That is incredible! If accuracy is important, if you want the best possible tool you can find then this is the one for you. For most people, we all know it is out of their reach financially. But we also know, if we could afford, this is the one we’d buy.