The Couple Who’s Car Roof Was Glued Back Together Wins $42 Million

A while back there was a story about a couple from Texas who survived an awful car accident and as a result learned a scary fact about their car and previous repairs. They have now been awarded money in the settlement that started after the accident. Marcia and Matthew Seebachan won $42 Million due to a faulty repair of their car roof. And although the accident didn’t have any direct correlation with the repair, the amount of damage done by the wreck was intensified by a faulty roof which that left the car structurally unsafe.

After the Seebachan’s took their car in for hail damage repair, it was later found out that the 2010 Honda Fit’s roof had been glued back together instead of welded like the Honda guidelines specify. Yup, you read that right…GLUED. No wonder it left the car structurally unsafe. Ironically, the couple had only owned the car for 4 months before the accident and had no idea of the damage since it wasn’t mentioned in the CarFax report from the dealership when they bought it.

It was found out during the investigation that instead of welds to repair the roof, a 3M 8115-panel bonding adhesive was used. And the portion of the roof that needed repair was the “safety cage”, which is supposed to protect in event of an accident and keep debris from injuring the passengers. Except, in this case, the glued safety cage detached from the car and ended up hurting the couple more instead of protecting them. The accident resulted in the doors caving in and trapping them inside along with the fuel system being compromised which resulted in a fire that burned them severely.

Luckily, Marcia was able to escape in time before the flames got to them but Matthew wasn’t as fortunate and was trapped inside while the flames engulfed the car. Luckily, he was rescued in time. The amount of trauma and damage resulted (rightfully) in the large settlement sum.

Luckily these people survived to have a settlement case but always remember that CarFax reports and other similar documents may not always have 100% of the vehicles history and details on it. There are always loopholes and ways to cut corners, unfortunately so if something seems “off” it’s always better to have it checked out.