A buddy bought a previously freshwater flooded 420SEL last year. It was........okay. No signs inside, but plenty outside and on the drivetrain. It had a few funky electical gremlins, but nothing major. When we removed the engine covers to replace the shocks, there was a thick film of schlugunk on the shock towers. There was unusual rust/crud in crevices of the undercarriage in places normally pristine because they're so protected. If you didn't know cars well and didn't know what to look for, most people would never have known it had been flooded. Two months ago, the tranny quit going into final gear, so he auctioned it off out of frustration (and fear).

Two years ago, I bought a theft recovery vehicle. Legally, it showed theft recovery, but I knew the history, and it had actually been abandoned - but the local DMV couldn't figure out how to 'code' the paperwork, so they simply tagged it 'theft.' It was a great car, but I decided to sell after about a year. Just for fun, I ran a Carfax ..........which, among other things stated, "THIS CAR IS IDENTIFIED AS A STOLEN VEHICLE! REPORT THIS INFORMATION TO LAW ENFORCEMENT IMMEDIATELY!', or something to that effect. I sold it without problems, but it certainly soured me on Carfax.