Man Buys Replacement Car—It’s His Stolen One

If you love your vehicle . . . and it’s stolen . . . would you try to replace it with the EXACT SAME CAR, as much as possible?

A 36-year-old man in the U.K. named Ewan Valentine woke up a couple months ago, and realized that his car had been stolen out of his driveway.  It was a black Honda Civic, and he was “gutted” because he really liked that car.

He reported it, and did all the insurance paperwork . . . but the car was never found.  So, he went out to buy a similar replacement.  He found a perfect match at a used car dealer about an hour away, and bought it for $26,000.

That’s when things started to feel really strange.  The car wasn’t detailed, and there was stuff inside, like a piece from a tent . . . Christmas tree pine needles . . . and some candy bar wrappers.

They debris didn’t seem like trash, it felt FAMILIAR.  But maybe everyone has build-up like that in their cars.  Even the kind of candy bars he liked.

But get this:  Ewan was messing around with the car’s navigation, and saw that HIS address . . . and his parents’ address . . . were in the system’s “history.”

He said, “I nearly crashed, to be honest, because I was in shock . . . my hands were shaking, my heart was pounding.”

He took it to a dealership, and they confirmed that this was HIS car.  The VIN number, mileage, and plates had been tampered with and altered.  But the key was the same key that HE had for his old car.

Ewan called the police and they couldn’t believe it either.  It sounds like the thieves did all the “cloning” work to change the car . . . and then sold it to the used car place, which was also duped.

As far as we know, there haven’t been any arrests . . . and Ewan is still in the process of trying to get his money and deposit back for the vehicle.

It sounds like it COULD be a happy ending . . . assuming he’s able to get the money situation sorted out.  Still, he says it doesn’t FEEL triumphant, it still feels like he’s “done something a bit stupid.”

(BBC)