Buying the perfect replacement
Meet Ewan Valentine, a 36-year-old software engineer from Solihull in central England. He loves his white 2016 Honda Civic Type R. Sure, it might not be the swankiest or most powerful vehicle out there. But it can go from zero to 60 in six seconds and blaze along at 168 miles per hour. Most importantly, however, it’s his car. “It was a bit of a midlife crisis car, and you don’t get many of those.” Imagine, then, his shock last February, when his beloved ride disappeared. His girlfriend woke up early in the morning to drive Valentine’s car to work — but it was nowhere to be found. Of course, he immediately reported the theft to the police and filed an insurance claim. However, the wheels of bureaucracy weren’t turning as quickly as Valentine hoped.
“A few weeks passed, and I was dealing with the police and the insurance company, but not much was happening,” he recalled. Yet, he needed a set of wheels, so he reluctantly started looking into buying a new car. Although he was in the market for another vehicle, Valentine wanted to keep it as similar as possible. During his search, one particular car stood out. “The one that caught my eye was identical, color, make, model, even down to the custom exhaust system,” Valentine said. He couldn’t believe his luck. This car was a perfect replacement — exactly like his old one. Valentine got in touch with the seller and went down to check the car out. He took a quick look and decided this was it. “I think my judgment was a little clouded by how desperate I was to replace my car, so I didn’t do the most thorough check,” he admitted in hindsight. So, he paid $26,800 for the car and drove off.
As Valentine was on his way home, things started seeming a bit off. The car handled exactly as his old one had — and that’s not all. In the trunk, he found a tent peg from his tent. In the central columns were wrappers from things he’d eaten, and the car still smelled like beer from a bottle that broke on a trip home from a year ago. “I suddenly had the idea of checking the satnav history. Sure enough, there was my address, my parents’ address, my partner’s address, and places we’d visited the previous couple of years,” said Valentine. He’d bought his own stolen vehicle. Now, the Honda is with the insurance company, which is attempting to bring the car back to its original condition. If they can’t do that, Valentine said they’ll pay him for the value of the car. We’re sure he’d rather get some wheels back, though.
Stolen Irony
The most stolen car last year was a Toyota Camry. Toyota is negotiating with the Fiat people to help them design a car no one would want to steal.
A thief broke into my house last night…
He started searching for money, so I woke up and searched with him.
A car thief gets brought before the judge.
Judge: Why did you steal the car?
Thief: I had to get to work.
Judge: And why didn’t you take the bus instead?
Thief: I’ve got no license for driving a bus.
A Serial Killer, Car Thief and Russian Spy walks into a bar
And that was just the first guy.
May 5th birthdays
1982 – Lynsi Snyder,1988 – Adele, 1978 – Jessie Cave, 1991 – Danielle Fishel
1983 – Henry Cavill, 1989 – Chris Brown, 1999 – John Gray, 1987 – Andy Murray