The paper introduces a novel ex situ test procedure that was developed to quantify the ageing of catalyst layers under critical automotive fuel cell conditions during start-up/shut-down phases. It is based on liquid electrolyte measurements, using a thin film catalyst electrode. The overall degradation under start-up/shut-down conditions is assessed by the decay in electrochemically active surface area. Furthermore, contributions from different processes leading to catalyst degradation such as Pt dissolution and Pt particle growth/agglomeration can be separated. Finally, using a differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) set-up, also the extent and role of carbon corrosion under these conditions is accessible. The potential of this, compared to in situ fuel cell stack tests, rather fast and less costly ex situ test procedure is demonstrated in measurements using a commercial, graphitized carbon-supported Pt catalyst. The results of the degradation test and in particular the contributions from different degradation processes such as Pt dissolution, Pt particle growth/agglomeration and carbon corrosion during different stages of catalyst ageing are discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.