aTOMic

Was NOT suggesting frivolity, only fair compensation.

Pain & suffering damages are different than punitive.
Punitive damages are awarded for the sole purpose of punishing the defendant.
The amount of a punitive damage award is based on the character and nature of the defendant’s conduct, how much money the defendant has, how much harm other victims might suffer if this particular defendant is not punished, as well as the actual harm suffered by the plaintiff.
There is also negligence and recklessness, both of which can be under punitive damages depending on locale...
The court might find the trucking company liable for gross negligence if, for example, he was impaired or if his license was not valid, or if the truck's brakes were in disrepair. We don't know; the trucker might've been hopped up on meth and sleepless for a week, or he might have had a spotless record.

I agree there are embarrassingly frivolous commercials in the US, but if the judge/jury are doing their jobs right, the facts bear out information not evident in a 30-second TV spot and there was good reason for the large awards.

snagitseven

Darren, despite the no fault law in MI, from a lawsuit perspective sometimes, the at fault issue is not so clear cut. Were there witnesses to the accident other than you and the truck driver? I believe your account of the accident but if no witnesses, the truck driver could lie and say you were the one who ran the stop sign in front of him after he stopped. I was in a similar situation many years ago and the other driver tried to shift the fault with his own erroneous story. Fortunately, I was with someone who backed up the actual events and a police report noting his tire skid marks that indicated the other driver's speed through the red light.

Darren Coogan

It is clear cut. I didn't have a stop sign. It was a 2 way stop.

I just found out the car was deemed a total loss. Only a few thousand in depreciation in 1.5 years. Not bad

Jack88

I'm glad they're not hitting you too hard with it, have fun shopping!

snagitseven

Yeah, no wiggle room on a 2 way stop. Good luck on new wheels.

Darren Coogan

I bought a 2013 Quartz grey S6 with a couple of thousand chopped off the price after some negotiations. Also bought more warranty to extend the CPO b2b to 2022 or 180,000km. It just came off lease with 55k km on the clock

The options included in this car are
Adaptive cruise with stop and go and brake guard, climate controlled massage seats, carbon interior, 20" wheels, 2 sets of tires(dealer put on brand new summers and brakes), 360 surround view camera, lane assist, smart full led lighting, active rear diff, and adaptive air suspension.

Whats missing that I would have liked? B&O, the Bose actually did sound very good. Rear entertainment and nightvision are also missing. None of these were deal breakers for me

the_duke

I hope you like it. I can't justify paying the same price as a 4.0t A8 that has much better interior. And I just like the bigger car.

Darren Coogan

True, but the S6 is just so much more fun to drive than the A8. My old D3 S8 was more enjoyable. Hell my rental S550 has 416hp and 520tq, a literal rocket and yet still boring to drive.

I did test drive this and even almost pulled the trigger, until I found out it was in 2 wrecks. One at $20k and the other to the tune of $30k.

It's a fully loaded A8L W12. Only option missing is the 4 seat configuration and had everything else offered that year. It drove amazing and even felt quicker than the S6 with the 6.3 W12 and 500hp. But it's just not what I was looking for like the S8

2012 Audi A8 W12 REAR ENTERAINMENT | NIGHT VISION for $59,995 in Oakville | autoTRADER.ca

the_duke

Sounds like you'll be happy with the S6.

Jack88

Enjoy it! It's a real quick car, and responds well to a tune(goodbye warranty, though.) Quite a change in character, though, if it's anything like the previous generation, compared to your S8.