I bought my 2005 Limited Roadster brand spanking new...... in July of 2007! Poor little thing bounced around a couple of dealer lots during that time, getting a new battery in the process. But it's been 100% trouble free for me since taking delivery with a mere 32 (apparently test driven) miles on the odometer (it now has 13,200 on it).

$18k sounds a bit high, though. I paid $21k for mine brand new and highly doubt I could get $18k for it today, and it looks much better today than the day I brought it home. I wouldn't assume that it's a problem car, but I would bargain hard on that price.

I have read a couple of articles lately talking about the uptick in used car prices lately. Seems with several million fewer new cars being bought last year there are several million fewer used cars on the market today (Cash for Clunkers having killed off many used cars as well). Used car supply is down, which is driving prices up. While this does seem to be impacting the very low end of the used car market the hardest, it is having a broad effect on the entire industry.

If you can get a feel for how long CarMax has had the car, that may be a bargaining chip for you. No dealer of any kind likes to sit on a car for any length of time.