Potholes pose significant challenges to road infrastructure and the automotive industry, leading to safety risks, vehicle damage, and increased maintenance costs. These road defects form due to water infiltration, freeze-thaw cycles, heavy traffic, and inadequate maintenance, creating localized depressions with well-defined edges that compromise pavement integrity. Their impact extends to vehicle durability, affecting tires, suspension systems, and chassis components. This study presents a standardized manual methodology for pothole characterization, focusing on geometry, depth, and distribution assessment. Unlike advanced techniques such as LiDAR and GPR, this cost-effective approach requires no specialized equipment, making it accessible and practical for real-world applications. The methodology involves profile measurements, lateral positioning analysis within the lane, and density calculation based on pothole concentration by square kilometers. To validate the methodology was conducted a field data collection in Campinas, Brazil, demonstrating variations in pothole geometry and density, with some locations exhibiting higher deterioration levels. By implementing this methodology, automotive manufacturers can refine suspension systems and enhance vehicle durability, while road maintenance agencies can efficiently allocate resources for infrastructure improvements. Additionally, the findings contribute to urban planning, autonomous vehicle navigation, and geospatial analysis, promoting safer and more sustainable road networks. This research underscores the importance of systematic pothole assessment, bridging the gap between infrastructure management and automotive design. Establishing standardized measurement practices benefits global vehicle development, ensuring consistent durability testing across markets. Ultimately, this methodology provides valuable insights into road conditions, enabling stakeholders to mitigate pothole-related issues and enhance overall transportation safety and efficiency.