Can you believe a new roof was glued on to repair hail damage, not welded per the industry standard, and then the body shop never informed the new owners or Carfax, and they nearly died as a result?

In a deposition, the body shop director said the shop performed repairs “according to the insurance company,” not based on the OEM procedures.

After a December 2013 collision, 33-year-old Matthew Seebachan and his 29-year-old wife Marcia were trapped inside their used 2010 Honda Fit when the glued roof caused the car’s structure to catastrophically collapse and catch fire, according to the lawsuit.

In pretrial testimony, Boyce Willis, the body shop director at John Eagle Collision Center in Dallas, admitted that the company ignored Honda’s repair specifications.

When the Seebachans purchased the Honda Fit in August 2013, the CARFAX report did not indicate any previous repair work or damage

“John Eagle Collision Center, by covering up its arrogant repair of using glue rather than following the manufacturer’s body repair specifications and using welds just like Honda had done when they designed, developed and tested the vehicle, created a time bomb that was waiting to explode,” asserted vehicle-safety lawyer Todd Tracy of the Tracy Law Firm in Dallas, who represents the victims.

Because the Honda Fit’s metal roof had been glued on by John Eagle Collision Center and not welded as specified by Honda, the collision set off a domino effect of structural failures, according to the lawsuit. The defective roof repair caused the car’s safety cage to collapse and the fuel tank located below the driver’s seat to rupture, the lawsuit alleges.

Trapped behind the steering wheel, Matthew Seebachan remained conscious as flames fried his feet and lower legs, before he was pulled from the wreckage by a motorist. Another motorist rescued his wife through the passenger window of the mangled car, according to the lawsuit.

The Seebachans bought the used 2010 Honda Fit from Huffines Kia in Denton four months before the crash. The CARFAX report presented to the Seebachans at the time of their purchase did not disclose the roof repair.

“There was no way the Seebachans or anyone from Huffines Kia could see that the roof was glued rather than being welded because paint and shiny trim covered up a time bomb,” Tracy said. “The testimony and facts in this defective-repair lawsuit clearly show that John Eagle Collision Center used glue instead of the more expensive welding because it cares more about getting paid by the insurance company than they care about putting a vehicle out there on the road that’s safe and reliable.”

https://www.bodyshopbusiness.com/dallas-couple-seeking-1-million-autobody-shop-glued-roof-car-lawsuit/

update Oct 2017, the couple won 42 million dollars

http://www.thedrive.com/news/15027/couple-awarded-42-million-for-crash-injuries-after-body-shop-glues-on-replacement-roof