Parker’s Price Guide has launched a text message retail valuation service which will allow car-buyers to obtain an on-the-spot indication of what they should be paying.

Users submit the registration number of the car they’re interested in, or the vehicle they’re part-exchanging, plus the current mileage, and receive a text message in return with Parker’s latest mileage adjusted valuations for that exact vehicle, broken down into new, dealer, good condition, poor condition and trade-in categories.

The service costs £1.50 plus the user’s normal text rate. It is available for vehicles aged 10 months to five years.

Steve Rose, Parker’s editor says: “SMS pricing takes the uncertainty and potential confrontation out of negotiating on a car. The customer gets a mileage adjusted up-to-the-minute valuation on both the car they are buying and their current car’s part-exchange value. Parker’s independent experts analyse 3,800 car sales every day – that’s 1.4m transactions a year, so you can be confident our prices are accurate. The price quoted is the typical selling price, not the sticker price.”