I too have never had a drive die because I turn it off each day.
I have had drives die but this is always after the drive started acting funky for a few days or even weeks. When this happens to me I transfer the files and replace the thing.
Drives are mechanical, they grind and wear out, they also suck up power, little as it is over time and quantity of drives and days (nights) adds up.
I have heard, even from intelligent people, that you should not turn computers or drives off because of the power surge that hits them when you turn them on. Guess what, the folks that design and make this stuff know all about the start up issues and have taken care to solve that problem long long long ago.
Never a dead drive on start up…
Chris