After suing a car dealership in small claims court can I sue again in a higher court?

You get only one bite of the apple per issue.

No. If you have not heard of "double jeopardy," you have just learned about it. You picked your arena. It is over.

You can sue only once one the same claim. So if you take the case to Small Claims Court ($7,500 limit in California) you can not go to superior court, except if the defendant loses in Small Claims and he then appeals to Superior Court (unclear if you can then ask for a greater amount then did before). Superior Court has the advantage of it being able to void the sale and return the money you spent if you return the car to the dealership. But the car dealership can have an attorney represent itself, it will take months if not a year or so longer to get a verdict, the filing fee is higher, and the other side can hit you with paperwork. Small Claims can only give a dollar amount as a judgment.

No, once a court decides the case, you usually can't file another suit surrounding the same issues. Also, in most small claims courts in Louisiana, you can't appeal to the court of appeals. If you feel your claim is for more than the jurisdictional limit of the small claims court, you may be able to have it removed to the regular docket or to district court. You may wish to speak to the clerk's office regarding that.

Once you pick the court, you are "stuck" in that court......you can dismiss and re-file in a different court, but you are limited to one dismissal without prejudice. If you do decide to dismiss it, make sure you put the words "without prejudice" on the dismissal in BIG letters.

You can appeal if you lose. If you have a case of fraud why don't you take a dismissal in small claims and file in big court. fraud is fraud, or is it really?

You only get one bite of the apple. If you don't think that the S.C. judgment is going to be enough to cover you, dismiss it now and re-file in Superior Court.