wrecked 2006 hhr LT
 

I recently got in an accident with someone that didnt have insurance, and since im in a no fault law state if i want any money for my car I would have to sue them, which they might not have the money to pay and might not show up to court. I wanted to know what i could get for it if I sold it. the airbag did deploy, they discontected the battery so i havent tried to start it since. and i dont have the money to get it insepected to find out how much to fix it, i didnt have full coverage since im a full time college student and money is limited. it has 105,000 miles
http://images.craigslist.org/5Lf5V05...f1362c13b5.jpg http://images.craigslist.org/5L95I85...11af7c1b16.jpg http://images.craigslist.org/5Ia5L35...e33bfc1fbc.jpg

:welcome: to the forum ffdpsoldier, wish the circumstances were better.

I hate to say it, but just looking at the visual damage, and factoring in the airbag deployment, its a total loss. Even though you're in a "no-fault" state, you should have "uninsured/under-insured" coverage on your policy, its required in almost every state. Contact your agent, you shouldn't have to sue the other party to recover the value of your HHR, that is the responsibility of your insurance carrier.

Body shops do estimates for free, you should never have to pay for one, and whoever gave you that info did you a great disservice. Because it doesn't look drivable, you would have to pay for the tow to a body shop, but that would be reimbursed by your insurance company.

So before you do anything, call your insurance agent Monday morning, first thing. You said you don't have full coverage, you need to get an explanation of exactly what your carrier is prepared to do.

Welcome to the site ffdpsoldier, Sorry to see your trusty stead took the hit, Glad you are ok !!:thumb:

Welcome

What a shame... Hope you are okay, ffdpsoldier, other than the loss of your ride.

Sorry to hear about the car.
What I didn't get from your post is,who was determined to be at fault?
If it was the other person,pursue it. Nothing lost for trying to recoup your loses.
Yeah, and as Mike said,it does look like the car is totaled.

the other person is at fault and was stated on the police report. however since I didnt have collision coverage just liability the insurance Co will not fix anything, so If i want to recoupe any loss I have to sell the car and sue the driver that was uninsured and the owner that didnt have any insurance.
the problem facing that is, ive been told that some people dont show up to small claims court.
also if they dont have money for insurance they wont have money to pay for the law suit.
also its hard to find a lawyer to take the case because most want someone to be injured so they can make more, in my case no one was injured.

im going to eather put the car on craigslist, or ebay im not sure how much i can get out of it.

843de is our on site legal guru. He'll correct me if I state something wrong.
If you go to small claims,you don't need a lawyer. Problem is,what is the jurisdictional limits (money) in your area? Is it enough to cover your loss?
You need an estimate or bluebook value if totaled, if you go to court.
If the other party doesn't show up for the case,a verdict can be rendered in small claims. Now collecting that money can be a whole different story.
(My wife and I are still hoping to collect $4000 from a small claims verdict.)
If you can contact the at fault party and threaten a suit,sometimes they will settle to avoid court. Just because they didn't have any insurance, doesn't nescessarily mean their not able to pay your damages.
I'm sure 843de will chime in here and give an opinion.
Good Luck,George

Sorry to see that.

It's hard to advise, I am not an American. Just a thought.
A. expose the car up for auction - regular buyers of specialized auctions of damaged cars buy a car quickly and give a fair price.
b. Cutting car by selling it in parts. It is time consuming, but if you can handle a wrench and a circular saw - you will receive a good wage. Perhaps thousands of members of this forum will disassemble your car to pieces in an hour.

Hindsight is always 20/20, as they say. Fixing minor damage properly on most any modern vehicle costs a considerable amount of money. Unless you drive a ten year old "beater", it is definitely worth having collision and comprehensive insurance.
My own 2007 HHR is in the body shop right now. Someone came out of a driveway not looking to their left and hit my HHR of the right side at maybe 5 mph. Just minor cosmetic damage - but it's going to cost the other driver's insurance company close to $3,000, not including the rental car cost.
I hope things turn out well for you, ffdpsoldier.

OK ffdpsoldier, I have some info for you, and as firemangeorge stated...I'm the legal mind here by dint of being a lawyer. But, the info I have is more of a self help deal for you since I'm not licensed to practice in Michigan. Because of that I can't give you direct legal advice, that would constitute a lawyer/client relationship which in not possible due to the aforementioned lack of a license from the Michigan Bar.

First, here's a link to the Michigan Court System on filing a small claims suit, you do not require a lawyer to file a small claim. If judgement is rendered in your favor and the defendant does not pay, the court will assist you in collection efforts. Click the link below, and read it thoroughly please.

http://courts.michigan.gov/scao/self...ms/sc_help.htm

Now the maximum amount of a small claims judgement in your state is $3,000, that's all you'd be able to recover.

The individual who hit you/caused the accident has committed a criminal offense in the State of Michigan by driving without insurance, the officer who responded should have issued a criminal citation to that effect. Driving without insurance in your state is punishable by a fine and immediate suspension of driving privileges.

Because your vehicle is more than likely a total loss, and valued at more than $3,000 I would advise filing suit against the other party in the Court of Common Pleas. For that you will require legal representation, contact a few local lawyers and ask them if they will take your case on a "Contingency" basis. If you receive a judgement in your favor, the lawyer will take a percentage as his/her fee, you will receive the rest. If the defendant refuses to pay the judgement, the court will assist in collection efforts on your behalf.

If you decide to go either route, get an insurance adjuster or body shop to give you an estimate on your HHR in order to establish its current value and whether it is in fact officially totaled out.

Hope this helps, its a lot of info, but go to that link I put up for you and read everything.

I was considarding going for more than the 3,000$ amount, however most lawyers want an "injured victim to collect money" at least by the 20 or so I contacted because its "not worth there time"
the woman that caused the accident, was not the owner of the vechical, she provided the officer with some information on insurance however that information was wrong because my insurance company can not find any information on eather the Driver or the owner of the car with that insurance company since 2010.
so after she provided this false info she hoped on the emergancy vechical to get off the site, but was fine (probly just fleeing the scene)

I would like to get about 8,000 at least because of the total car but also having to buy another one so I am out 8000 for the old and another 8000 for the new replacement. but not sure if i could get more than the cost of the HHR.

You need to talk to "Non-Ambulance Chasing" lawyers, not the yellow pages variety who go after personal injury cases, if an attorney is only interested in the "injured victim collecting a cash award"....you've got the classic Ambulance Chaser.

Grab your white pages and contact several law firms for a consultation, the first consult is almost always no charge, if they think you have a viable case you can work out representation on a contingency basis.

Don't talk to the "Big Name" law firms, contact the smaller firms, they are able to provide the personal service you deserve so you don't become case #3,456,789 for the year.

As to recovering more than the vehicle is worth, not going to happen, but you can sue for time lost and income lost due to the damages incurred. You should also contact the PD to check on the status of the criminal investigation into the accident, if she fled the scene after providing false information, she's in big trouble.

I wish I could say you're guaranteed of ever seeing a penny out of this, but if you're determined and prepared to go after the party who is in the wrong, then fight tooth and nail to recover damages.

Im not sure if i could collect for time loss if Im a full time student.
it did make me miss Rotc(military) training, but nothing which stopped any flow of money.

I think it great that a full time college student can own a 2006 HHR outright. When I was a student a 8 year old VW for $500 was partially financed.

well from starting college 2009 I had bought a 98 BMW z3,
than in 2010 bought a 99 dodge ram 1500.
the dodge broke down, then traded in the bmw for the HHR in 2011
than in 2012 hhr broke down, now have an 2008 cobalt.

ffdpsoldier- we had a '96 Z-3 for almost 10 yrs.. That was a fun lil ride !!!

yeah I hated to trade it in, I had custom seats, side panels, chrome roll-bars, new top, halo lights, new interior trim, but I needed a vechical for winter purposes. when I lived in houston, I was able to max the car out at 129mph on the highway

You could probably part it out to start getting some cash. then after not being able to sell anymore find a junkyard to buy the rest. you wont get the money your looking for but will be more then selling it out right