A student borrows her roommate’s car to pick up pizza. After a detour to a bookstore, she returns to discover the car hit by a hit-and-run. The roommate sues for damages to the car. What is the most likely recovery?

• A. Nothing, because the detour delayed the pizza.
• B. The value of the car before the accident, as measured immediately prior to the incident.
• C. The cost of repairing the dents and other damages.
• D. None of the above; the roommate cannot recover.

Answer: (A)

When a tort damages another person’s property, the goal is to restore the owner to the position they were in before the tort occurred. For a damaged car, the usual measure is the reasonable cost of repair to bring the car back to its pre-tort condition, or the diminution in value if repair costs are excessive relative to the car’s value. The detour to the bookstore and the timing of the pizza don’t excuse the borrower from liability, and they don’t set a different damage measure. So the roommate’s recovery would be the cost to repair the dents and other damages, assuming those costs are reasonable and not greater than the car’s diminution in value.