Whether you’ve got a nasty case of triskaidekaphobia, an unbridled passion for slasher movies or you’re just a little superstitious, seeing Friday the 13th pop up on your calendar can elicit a sense of dread and gloom. October is the second month of 2017 to see the 13th day fall on a Friday; the first having already passed us in January. But, the question is this – is there any truth to the bad-luck association? The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics would say no, given a study it released in 2008 that found the average rate of traffic accidents in the Netherlands actually fell on Friday the 13th, presumably because people drove more carefully or simply chose not to drive at all. Regardless, it got us thinking – what car stuff out there is considered unlucky?
After poking around a little bit, we found a couple of excellent examples from the world of motorsport, as well as a few statistics to consider before buying that used car you’ve been eyeing. And, we wanna know – what unlucky car stories do you have? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
Continue reading for some unlucky car stories.
Toyota Breaks At Le Mans… Again
Heading into this year’s iconic 24-hour race, it looked like Toyota would finally, mercifully, walk away with a win. 2017 saw the Japanese manufacturer looking stronger than ever, with a trio of cutting-edge TS050 hybrids on the grid, pole position secured, and even a lap record to boot. 10 hours into the race, Toyota was in the lead and looking to push ahead of the chasing Porsche.
Then – disaster. Following an extended safety car period, clutch issues struck the #7 Toyota, leaving it stuck in first gear. The car never even made it back to the pits. Almost immediately afterward, an LMP2 car collided with the second-place #9 Toyota. Meanwhile, the #8 Toyota was stuck towards the back, 30 laps down on the leaders following an extensive engine rebuild.
To make matters worse, the heartbreaking loss was an agonizing repeat of last year’s Le Mans race, wherein the leading #5 TS050 broke down on the front straight with just a single lap remaining.
Max Verstappen And The RB13 Formula 1
Our next bad-luck auto comes from the world of Formula 1. As we all know, the technology in play in this sport is finicky at best, and sometimes, that temperamental persona turns to misery for the drivers.
Max Verstappen knows this well. A string of DNF’s has left the Red Bull driver sitting on the sidelines for much of the 2017 season. Sometimes, he can’t even complete a double-digit number of laps before something breaks. Most of it boils down to mechanical issues, although occasionally, it’s a collision with another car. Or a bad pit stop. Or any other number of bad luck occurrences.
Thankfully, it looks like Max’s luck might be turning around, with a win at the Malaysian Grand Prix earlier this month, plus a third-place finish in China back in April. Hopefully, the worst of his luck is over.
What’s The Accident History?
We all know how important it is to look into a used car’s background before taking the plunge and handing over the check. However, not all accidents are reported, but thankfully, Wikilender managed to compile statistics on both reported and unreported accidents to compile a list of “10 Cars most likely to have been in an accident.” You can check out the full list here, but long story short, you may wanna be wary of scooping up a used BMW 4 Series or X1.
References
Read our full review on the 2017 Toyota TS050.
Read our full review on the 2018 BMW 4 Series.
Read our full review on the 2016 BMW X1.