A man went to buy a car after seeing an advert on DoneDeal and decided to steal it instead.
John Tierney appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with the unauthorised taking of the Audi car.
The court was told that on February 21st last Tierney spotted the advert on DoneDeal and went to view it with the owner at Killylastin outside Letterkenny.
Garda Inspector Sean Grant said Tierney, with an address in St Johnston, viewed the car with the owner, a Mr McNamee.
However, when he spotted the keys in the ignition, Tierney decided to jump into the car and drive off.
The car was later recovered a few miles away and was undamaged but was missing the keys.
Solicitor for Tierney, Mr Kieran Dillon, said his client was into cars and had wanted to see the car but didn’t have enough money to buy it.
“He saw an opportunity for a test drive and he took it. It was the completely and utter wrong way to do something,” he said.
The court was told that there was an invoice in court for €278 for replacement keys but that Mr Tierney only had €150 at this time.
Solicitor Dillon said his client had left school early and had been affected by the death of his father.
Judge Paul Kelly adjourned the case until December 16th for a Probation Report.