I just had my Honda dealership service my Honda and they said they inflated the air pressure in my tires to 32 psi. I've been wondering about the accuracy of the 2 tire gauges I have, one cheapo I bought recently and one dial-type gauge I bought in the '70s from Sears. My Sears gauge measured 35 psi and my cheapo measured around 38 psi. So apparently I've been under-inflating my tires for a couple of decades now, as the Honda service manager assured me their gauges are accurate. So I would like to purchase a quality gauge, one upon whose accuracy I can rely. I know there are mechanics who advise in this forum and would appreciate some recommendations. For the time being, I guess I'll just do a mental 3 psi adjustment with my Sears gauge, but that may not even work with different pressures, like, e.g., my spare in the trunk, which needs a higher pressure.

 

Snap-on and Matco make my quality gauges, but as with all gauges eventually they with be out of spec. Some of the higher end ones can be calibrated, which have that option. Personally, I have plenty of Snap-on tools, but for home use I would recommend any cheap-o gauge or step up to a Sears one if you want. If the dealer filled your tires when they were cold and you drover them hard and made them hot then the psi would be greater then when they filled them. I have a few kicking around that I bought at gas stations over the years and they are all within one psi of each other and are within spec of the pressure regulator on my air tanks.

 

I thought about that when measuring them, but the tires felt cold to the touch. Its like 42 F here. (indy)

 

I bought a digital one that was way off. I compared it to my bicycle tire pump gauge, and two pencil types. The other three were about the same. No more than 2 psi. I bought another digital gauge that seems good. It still may be 2 psi off, not a big deal, but not a small deal either. One that is 0 to 200 psi generally be less accurate than one that goes from 20 to 50 psi.

 

I have a few gauges, there's safety in numbers. Really.
For you geeks out there, the measurement uncertainty gets smaller if you measure with multiple devices.

I don't normally measure the tires with all the different gauges. Occasionally, I will just to compare my 4 gauges against each other so I can feel some confidence.

I've had the worst luck with the pencil-type gauges.

 

I have a Victor tire gauge, like the one in this link. I know Victor makes a lot of gauges, so I think they know how to do it right. I've been using it for probably 15 years now.
Victor Tire Pressure Gauge 22-5-00881-8/S6: Advance Auto Parts

 

Years ago I worked with a man whose profession inlcuded being able to measure pressure accurately ...
he said, among the dial pressure guages, there are 2 types of construction.
* Bourdon tube (kinda like the horn of plenty construction [from Thanksgiving time]), and
* piston and dial.
Anyway this knowledgeable man said both were accurate as come from the manufacturer, but the Bourdon Tube construction could withstand minor shocks better.


Luck in trying to find a seller that now ID's what kind of unit they are selling.
15 yrs ago I bought a Bourdon Tube ID'd unit from Blackstone. 'Tis my reference.

 

I use the one with the hose, much like this one: Victor Tire Pressure Gauge 22-5-00874-8/TG: Advance Auto Parts

Then temp's come into "play". I try to check pressure in tires when the car has sat for hours. I can check pressure at night after the car has sat for ~4 hours and have them all set. Mid-morning when the sun has been on one side of the car, re-check them....the tires on the "sunny side" will now be ~2 psi higher than the "shaded side" tires ......and the car never moved.

 

So where do you live? Arizona, Texas?