Glued-On Roof Crash Failure Sees US Couple Awarded $42 Million

On a normal hatchback, the roof should be welded on. Always. In taking a cheaper repair route, one body shop's decision to glue instead of welding has seen an injured couple awarded a huge payout

Matt Kimberley

12 Oct 2017

Glued-On Roof Crash Failure Sees US Couple Awarded $42 Million

A US couple badly injured in a car crash after their car was cheaply repaired by a body shop have been awarded $42 million in damages.

Before Matthew and Marcia Seebachan bought the 2010 Honda Fit (that’s a Jazz in the UK), the car’s roof had been repaired after sustaining damage from one hell of a hailstorm. But instead of welding the new roof back in place, as should have been done, the body shop glued it in.

Obviously, when hit head-on by a truck in late 2013, the roof joins failed, causing a chain reaction of further structural failures that ultimately caused massive, life-changing injuries. Matthew is now permanently in and out of medical care, while Marcia was the lucky one with injuries limited to broken bones, internal bleeding and bruises.

Honda stipulates that a replacement roof must be welded, not glued. John Eagle Collision Center took the cheaper option, and the company is claiming that the insurance company involved – State Farm – bullied its staff into gluing rather than welding to save money. State Farm has denied that, but the Seebachans are suing the firm for a single dollar, with the idea being not to win money, but to raise awareness, stoke negative PR and prevent this money-first approach from happening again.

The cold reality that few of us know exactly what’s happened to our cars before we bought them is one we tend to put to the backs of our minds, but this sort of bodge-job really does make you worry. If you have access to a four-post lift, now might be a good time to get underneath your car and just make absolutely sure it’s all healthy.

Source: TheDrive

Comments

I used to work at a body shop and just like the article says, state farm MAKES us and other techs do less work for cheaper. They refuse to pay and ANY short cut they can take, they will. I have told everyone I know to avoid state farm due to these reasons. If you guys expect a tech to work for hours that he wont get payed for or something that isnt approved by the insurance company then youre all clueless.

That’s one of the reasons I never got to the “preferred shop” insurance wants your car to go to.

Just missed it. By that much..

To be fair, insurance companies are absolutely brutal with body shops that do work for them. Most body shops that I know refuse to do insurance work because of the hassle that they get. For example, insurance companies will insist on replacing only one shock because it is damaged rather that doing both sides. That’s why you’ll end up seeing cars with different shock absorbers on each side when working in a repair shop.

Well, I got rear-ended a month ago, and even though bodyshop costs were paid by the insurance company, I discovered that my rear bumper was actually glued, rather than normally attached; meaning the previous owner probably got into an accident with the car and did a cheap repair job.

Well, the insurance company refused to pay for new bumper brackets; if I’d want to get the job done and entirely paid, I would have had to get the new bumper being glued, instead of properly fixed. I finally ended up paying for the brackets: it was $57, and insurance company refused to pay a single cent more. They paid for having the car being put “exactly like it was before the accident”, and I had to pay.

We all know they should of used ducktape and zip ties

Every high speed car crash in Poland

If they sued the shop for $1, where did the $42 million come from?

42 million?! Are they r3tarded? Who would deny that tons of money? I honestly think they deserve the compensation rather than allowing the fuctards that changed their life to keep working on cars