Man determined to replace his stolen vehicle ends up buying back the exact same car
It came full circle The post Man determined to replace his stolen vehicle ends up buying back the exact same car appeared first on Supercar Blondie.
When a 36-year-old man from Solihull, UK, had his black Honda Civic Type-R stolen from his driveway earlier this year, he tried to replace it, but got a surprise when his new car arrived and it was a clone.
After reporting the theft to the police and his insurance company, he was determined to replace it with the same make and model.
He was thrilled when he happened upon an identical 2016 Honda Civic Type-R for just under $27,000 at a reputable garage 70 miles away.
However, when he took a closer look he could barely believe his eyes.
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Stolen Honda Civic Type-R
Based in the West Midlands in the UK, senior software engineer Ewan Valentine’s car disappeared from his driveway on 28 February, and he shared the unbelievable chain of events on his Instagram page.
After owning the Honda for three years, like many Type R owners, he had begun modifying the car, for example, adding a Remus exhaust.
He found and bought his like-for-like replacement just three weeks later.
After purchasing it, he noticed odd familiar items inside the trunk: a tent peg, Christmas tree pines, and Mars bar wrappers.
The car had a new number plate and lower mileage, but something still felt off.
The penny finally dropped when he found his and his parents’ addresses saved in the sat-nav history.
Convincing clone job
The realization was that his replacement was even closer to the original than he’d bargained for.
In fact he had accidentally bought his own stolen car.
He brought it to a local Honda dealership, where technicians were able to confirm that it was, indeed, his original vehicle.
The thieves had tampered with the car’s VIN numbers and made various other changes to disguise the car.
Valentine believes the app and dealership that sold him the car it was unaware it was stolen.
Police and mechanics said it was one of the most convincing clone jobs they had ever seen.
With the headscratching situation leaving his insurance company confused about how to move forward, for now, he’s driving his his partner’s 2007 Civic Type S, which he told Road & Track was ‘a lot less fun to drive’.The post Man determined to replace his stolen vehicle ends up buying back the exact same car appeared first on Supercar Blondie.
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