Ewan Valentine says he was devastated when his 2016 Honda Civic was stolen two months ago. The 9-year-old car — which can do 0 to 60mph in 6 seconds and has a top speed of 168mph — was his pride and joy. Anxious to replace it, the 36-year-old searched for a similar car, eventually coming across one he thought was a pretty good match. It wasn’t until he shelled out $26,600 that he realized that the car he bought was actually his stolen car that he had bought back. After Valentine had driven the car home, he went to put some things in the trunk and noticed a tent peg and some Christmas tree pines inside. It was, however, the smell of stale beer that tipped him off. About a year earlier, a bottle of beer in the trunk had shattered in the cold and left the trunk with a stale beer smell that he could never get out. That’s when Valentine remembered that his phone connected instantly as soon as he started the car, so he decided to check the satnav history. Sure enough, there was his address. It was pretty clear then that this was his old car. He immediately contacted the police and they have taken over the investigation.
