My friend (not me, but who cares?) recently had her car repossessed by
the car finance company.  She now has received a letter from that
company which informs her that they sold her car for $3,500, but that
she stills owes them $6,000.  If she doesn't pay them the 6 thousand,
they "MAY take legal action against her".  That was the precise
wording.

This is not a question about how to repair credit.  Her credit rating
stinks.  She knows it.  She doesn't care.  She does, however, care
very much about what they might do to get their alleged 'amount due'
from her and when.  So, if she steadfastly refuses to pay them a dime
or even communicate back to them:

In what percentage of similar cases (and amounts) would a finance
company try to garnish her wages via a court proceding of some kind?

Likewise, what percentage of such cases are settled at a much smaller
fraction of the amount due?

If you also didn't care about your credit history or rating, what
would you do in a similar situation?

Over the years, I've talked with others who lost their cars, but none told
about being successfully sued for any additional amounts due.

Thanks,
limegreen

It would depend on your friend's resources. How good is her job? Does
she have any other unpaid debts or judgments?

At a minimum they will begin an investigation by calling the contact
info they have (on the loan application, references etc) and try to
locate her, or gain other information. If they see it as simply
garnishing wages, as she is easily found, they may in fact do so.
Still they would need to get a judgment first. If it becomes difficult
to find her, they may set it aside and try again later.

You may want to have you friend check with a collection consultant
like http://www.chemeria.com/smallclaimsconsultant.html

For an example of a professional collection agency that collects auto
defiencies try MasTon Capital at http://www.MasTonCapital.com

Once a vehicle is repossessed the credit grantor will sell the auto
generally at an auction to try to settle the balance owing on the
contract. If the balance on an auto contract at time of repo is
$10,000 and the car sells at auction for only $6000 the amount to pay
off the contract balance is deficient by $4000. Legally known as an
auto defienciecny balance. These are legally recoverable through the
courts. There are some angles that can help a consumer in dealing with
this ordeal. Suggest you have her try the 1st link.