Crash Test Drive: 10 Dealership Cars Wrecked During Test Drive

2023 Author: Natalie MacDonald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 13:59

Although modern cars are equipped with a bunch of auxiliary systems that minimize the risk of an accident, they still cannot completely eliminate the human factor. Especially if this factor is behind the wheel of a particular car for the first time. We tell 10 short stories about how potential buyers got acquainted with potential purchases, but the acquaintance did not go according to plan.

Hyundai Elite i20

In the Indian city of Mandi, a woman decided to take a closer look at the compact Hyundai i20 hatch. She got behind the wheel of a car parked in the showroom, pressed the gas pedal … and the car suddenly took off, broke through a glass window and jumped from a meter height. The distraught Hyundai stopped only on the street when it crashed into another car on the territory of the dealership.

The incident was recorded by surveillance cameras. According to the preliminary version, someone left the station wagon in the cabin with the engine running, which was simply temporarily turned off thanks to the start-stop system. However, the question remains, how (or why) the customer turned on the gear. In general, the test drive did not go well from the very beginning.

Bmw x1

In Guangzhou, China, the opposite happened. The girl took a brand new BMW X1 for a test drive, rode it without any misadventures and, apparently, was so impressed by the German crossover that at the end of the trip she confused the gas and brake pedals out of euphoria. And flew at full speed into the showcase of a car dealership, scaring away managers and other customers.

The salon employee who accompanied the girl, alas, did not manage to react: BMW picked up speed even inside the showroom, until it hit the concrete wall with its bumper. Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. In addition to the crossover and interior decoration.

Mercedes-Benz GLE

Six seconds. This is how long the test drive of the Mercedes-Benz GLE from the Glebe Road Mercedes center in Virginia, USA lasted. The girl behind the wheel had just started driving from the car dealership's parking lot, but it looks like she mixed up the pedals in the process of driving, which led to a costly accident.

In addition to the GLE, several other cars were injured in the parking lot. In the crossover itself, in addition to the driver and manager, there were two passengers. No one was injured in the accident, but an ambulance and firefighters were called to the scene of the accident, just in case.

Audi a7

An extremely strange accident occurred at the end of 2019 in St. Petersburg. Test Audi A7 in dealer stickers, moving along the Vyborg highway at high speed, first touched a Mercedes waiting to turn, and then a few more cars. In total, at least seven cars were injured in the road accident!

Until the end, it is not known for what reason the accident occurred. According to eyewitnesses, there were a man and a woman in the Audi cabin. From the first blow, the unfastened passenger found herself in the driver's seat, which probably led to the final disorientation of the driver.

Both Audi passengers were taken to the hospital. There were comments from witnesses that there was a smell of alcohol in the A7 cabin. The incident stopped traffic on the highway for more than three hours.

TeslModel 3

At the beginning of 2019, Tesl introduced Model 3 to the Chinese market. In order for potential customers to fully realize that Tesl is not some boring Volkswagen e-Golf with minivan dynamics and a penny power reserve, Model 3 sedans in the top-of-the-line Performance version were sent to the PRC.

And one of the testers in Shenzhen quickly became convinced that the Model 3 Performance was powerful. Judging by the photo, the driver lost control and hit either a lamp post or a bump stop on the pedestrian island. 3.5 seconds to 100 kilometers per hour is cool and dangerous at the same time.

After the incident, the damaged Model 3 Performance was promptly replaced with a new one, but this time in black.

ToyotSupra

Scarlet Supra in the back of A90, which was taken to the Toyot dealership in Garden City (New York), drove a negligible one and a half kilometers on its own. And then she met a tree.

According to preliminary data, the driver, through whose fault the accident occurred, lost control of the vehicle, moving at a speed limit. Fortunately, the accident did not become fatal: the driver was almost not injured, but the accompanying manager had to be freed with the help of special equipment. He was taken to hospital with leg injuries.

It is curious that such an incident happened at all - because Supra is rarely given for a test drive in America. And if they do, it is only under the control of the strictest observers. Perhaps after this incident, the latest generation Supr test drive program in the United States has been phased out completely. Do you want to ride? Buy and ride!

HondNSX

The test drive of HondNSX in the UK ended in an unusual way in February 2018. The driver lost control on a wet road and crashed into a fence … behind which was the parking lot of a Kia dealership. Perhaps it was a performance by an actionist artist and there are deep meanings in this "crash"?

In general, the very fact of the HondNSX test drive raises questions: this car, like the Supra, is also not given for testing to everyone in a row. Be that as it may, the coupe received serious damage to the body and suspension. Moreover, the dealership of competitors will have to be repaired …

Lamborghini Gallardo

Don't think that test car crashes have been the scourge of the past few years. In Sydney, Australia, for example, back in 2011, a brand new Lamborghini Gallardo was decomposed, which cost about 400 thousand Australian dollars.

The car hit the curb firmly, causing the entire front end to be severely damaged. The police assumed that the driver violated the rules, for which he paid, but the manager Ian Watts accompanying the potential buyer said that the driver was a good guy and did not commit any illegal actions.

Luckily for everyone, the test supercar was insured. And the managing director of Lamborghini Sydney, Andrew Smith, does not hold grudges against the driver of the car: “Most likely, he lost control for a split second and panicked - it happens. The main thing is that no one was injured and did not set a bad example on the road. And the rest is little things."

McLaren 650S Spider

The McLaren 650S Spider debuted in March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show. And in June of the same year, one of these supercars was crashed on the streets of Singapore.

The incident took place in the afternoon. The prospect took the car to the test and seemed to overestimate his supercar driving skills. The car was insured, which is a plus. But it cannot be restored, which is a minus.

Porsche 911 GT2 RS

We have already told about this story, but let us remind you anyway. On November 1, 2019, a red Porsche 911 GT2 RS left the Porsche Center Cardiff for a test drive but never returned.

Right after the GT2 RS left the dealership, a customer reported that the car's brakes had failed, according to Hywell Williams, the salon representative who accompanied the driver. Whether this is so, or whether an inexperienced driver decided to shift the blame onto the Porsche engineers is a mystery.

In addition to the 911 GT2 RS, which is one of the fastest production cars on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, and therefore in the whole world, five more cars were injured in the accident. Fortunately, there are no victims.