If my friend took her car to the mechanic but the mechanic ended dropping it off of the lift, can she sue for negligence and get more money than what they are trying to give her?

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If my friend took her car to the mechanic but the mechanic ended dropping it off of the lift, can she sue for negligence and get more money than what they are trying to give her?

They said it was totaled and she has to go pick up her stuff tomorrow for the inside.

Asked on January 27, 2016 under Accident Law, California

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 8 years ago | Contributor

She is entitled, if the car was totaled, to:
1) The then-current fair market, or blue book, value of the car: when property is destroyed, the other person only has to pay its value, no more than that. (To analogize: if someone burned or ripped up your $50 bill, they'd only have to give you $50 for it--the value of what they destroyed--not $60 or $70 or more.)
2) The value of any personal property in the car which was destroyed.
3) The cost to rent a car for a reasonable time period (a few days) if necessary, while your friend buys or leases a new car.
4) Possibly a small amount (a day?) of lost wages, if your friend couldn't take care of any issues/chores resulting from this after work or on the weekend but had to miss a day of work for it.


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