Honda Civic Type R Theft Victim Accidently Buys His Own Car Back

As the saying goes, “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never was.” But what if that something you love was stolen? A UK man’s love for his Honda took a peculiar, circuitous turn after his vehicle was stolen, and then he unknowingly bought it back.

According to the BBC, in late February, Ewan Valentine’s 2016 Honda Civic Type R was snatched in the middle of the night. Although he was “gutted” by the car theft, Valentine had resolved to purchase another one just like it.

We didn’t get that version of the CTR in the States, alas. It’s an FK2, based on the ninth-gen Civic and built in the United Kingdom at Honda’s Swindon facility.

“It was sort of a mid-life crisis car, and you don’t get many of those,” said Valentine. “So I was pretty determined to get it replaced before one day I have to get a sort of family car,” he told the British publication.

Luck (or fate) happened to be on Valentine’s side … sort of. As he carshopped, he happened upon a Civic Type R nearly identical to his lost love. Located a mere 70 miles away, the vehicle was the same year, same color, and had the “same slightly obnoxious exhaust system.” 

So many similarities, but, of course, it wasn’t his stolen Civic. It couldn’t be. The one for sale had a different plate, VIN, registration, and mileage. Also, the seller was a reputable car shop, not some shady fly-by-night Facebook Marketplace merchant.

However, after paying £20,000 ($26,626 at today’s exchange rate) for the car, things got weird for Valentine. For one, the Civic hadn’t even been cleaned. Valentine found candy wrappers, a tent peg, and pine needles in the vehicle. 

Sure, it’s annoying and unprofessional to sell a dirty car, but the random trash items were those that would likely have been in Valentine’s own car. The real evidence that his newly purchased Civic Type R was, in fact, his actual car that was stolen? His own and his parents’ addresses were in the navigation system.

“I nearly crashed, to be honest, because I was in shock … My hands were shaking; my heart was pounding,” Valentine told the BBC.

Talk about doing a half-assed theft job. The crooks went to the trouble of duplicating the keys, changing the VIN plates, swapping out the license plate, and modifying the mileage, but couldn’t be bothered to vacuum up some rubbish or reset the navigation. 

It sounds preposterous, which is exactly what the police thought. The local authorities suspected that Valentine had had his car stolen intentionally, possibly for fraudulent purposes. A Honda garage confirmed ownership and also found other signs of tampering. Valentine believes the shop that sold him back his car was also a victim duped by the car thieves. At least this love story had a happy ending, with Valentine reuniting with his, er, valentine in the most car-guy, meant-to-be way possible.

Whether or not he will end up keeping the reclaimed car remains to be seen; it might end up being evidence now.

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