do i need to hire a attorney to file a civil law suite

Assuming that the plaintiff (the car owner) is an individual and not a corporation or other entity, an attorney is not required to file a lawsuit.  Often courts have programs to help pro se litigants, so if you plan to represent yourself, you should probably contact the  court in which you plan to file to see if it has one, and then avail yourself of whatever help the court can provide.