Black Book Live – CAP’s departure from traditional monthly trade price guides – publishes price changes as soon as they are identified. Data from recent months shows the development of trends in Black Book Live that a monthly price change inevitably fails to reflect – until it may be too late for trade professionals to respond appropriately.

In one example a 3-year-old Ford Focus 1.4 Style, with 50,000 miles, steadily rose in value from mid-July to mid-September with just one brief dip during late August.

In another example a Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TDi R Line was revalued 4 times by Black Book Live editors over the space of just 5 weeks, starting at £14,150 on July 16 and reaching £14,750 on August 23.

CAP’s Mike Hind, said: ‘We introduced Black Book Live to give customers a clearer view of market turns as they happen because a monthly guide is instantly behind the curve when prices change.

‘We have long and frustrating experience of struggling to accurately reflect a fast-changing market – such as the trade price crash of 2008 and the historic upturn that followed. The bottom line is, you can’t serve customers properly in a moving market if you can’t move with it,’ he added.

He continued: ‘We deadline our monthly Black Book around the 23rd which makes it the most up to date book of its kind.But even then, if prices turn immediately after that it’s another 5 weeks before our customers see more up to date trade prices. At that point the market may still be moving so those prices are also instantly out of date.

‘Black Book Live takes us out of that vicious circle so that customers see price changes as they happen – meaning they can react appropriately, armed with the latest information.

‘CAP subscribers who have moved over to Black Book Live tell us it typically justifies the investment within the space of one month,’ he concluded.