I attempted to use Ken last summer for purchasing a vehicle from a used car auction but let him go, forfeited my retainer, and just got my vehicle from CarMax.
I was not very happy with the quality of communication during the process. Believing that used car auctions are a thin market, I started with a broad set of models of interest, and Ken asked me to narrow it down aggressively. I did so (to a Mazda CX-5); then there was nothing on the horizon to consider. I got to hear about a couple specimens in the same size class (Ford Escapes). He once pinged me about a model that in a different, much larger, size class, and I wasted a bit of time looking up specifications to figure that out. In paying a cash brokerage fee to access a weird market, I expect my agent to have a good intuition for the depth of the market and not to mix up size classes.
Ken shared vehicles coming up for auction by texting me illegible cell phone pictures of his computer screen. It wasn't a good experience to go through those. Some vehicles had reports of damage, and I often felt he was trying to minimize rather than clarify what the damage reports meant.
Ken may well be a great asset in purchasing a vehicle from a dealer. Since the cars can be inspected in person and dealer does the work of presenting the vehicles, I think it could go very well to have a professional like Ken on your team to push back on the dealer. I think the 5-star reviews here attest to this possibility. However, I don't think this is the case for purchasing a vehicle from an auction. In the spirit of constructive criticism, I think Ken could offer a used car auction experience of some interest after improving his communication. After paying Ken's fee, shipment, detailing, repairs, etc., you'll save $1-2k versus the CarMax price for the equivalent car. In return, you bear an uncertain wait for your car to come up at auction and to be processed; the work/irritation of registering the car yourself at the end; no warranty; and the risk of nasty surprises in bringing a sight-unseen used car up to snuff through garages that Ken knows and you don't. In the end, I decided that the potential savings weren't worth the risk, delay, and trouble. read more