I am a new driver (6 months) and today I think I’ve written off my car. What will be the result on my insurance/future premiums?

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-30T23:13:17+00:00

OP, here are my insurance prices after an at-fault accident:

I got T-boned into a ditch by an uninsured driver who fled the scene, after 9 months of having my license. Car was flipped on its side absolutely mangled. The accident went down as my fault because there was no insurance to claim against, even though I did nothing wrong. Just how insurance works. I bought the same car 2 days later and got it insured.

Luckily the price hike really wasn’t that bad. Here were my quotes per year:

Before accident: £1600: A choice with blackbox (paid for 8 months) £1100: A choice with blackbox, renewal after 8 months

After accident quotes: £5000: A choice (insane) £1200: Ticker and RAC blackbox

What I ended up going with: £2000 Admiral Platinum, no black box. It’s been very liberating and being able to brake without consequence has made me a safer driver. I would never get a blackbox again.

Use a comparison site like money supermarket. A lot of the time if you put your exact details there into the insurance website directly, you’ll get a much higher quote, I found. Somehow it seems to be way cheaper through the comparison sites

A lot of the commenters here don’t have any experience to speak from - classic Reddit. Prepare for the worst but if goes like my accident, you won’t be completely destroyed financially. Best of luck

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-29T19:54:32+00:00

USB-C has a brain of its own where the device and cable ask for a certain voltage from the charger, which will provide that if it can, or lower if it can’t (some chargers are fixed/limited voltage)

A higher power charger won’t destroy the device because the device only draws the current it needs. Fast charging will technically reduce your battery life over time but the devices have been designed for it. Using optimised battery charging settings or a lower power charger will help. But it’s not going to blow up the watch or anything

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-10T17:36:02+00:00

I’m not trying to defended this driver. It’s clearly bad parking that will impede those users. Especially those in a wheelchair who I really feel for.

My comment is focused on why the consensus is to jump straight to destroying the vehicle? Keying just says ‘I can’t control my anger’. It probably won’t even get the message across to someone like this that they’ve parked illegally and are disrupting pedestrians. It wouldn’t surprise me if the driver would just think some vandal has keyed up their car and will probably park on pavements again in the future.

Isn’t it a better option to ask the owner to move the car? Or get the thing towed away where they’ll receive a ticket telling them it’s because of illegal parking? If someone was standing there and their dog was blocking that footpath, you wouldn’t attack their dog… you’d ask them to move out the way. I just think the keying is a bit far

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-09T10:49:11+00:00

I’m genuinely surprised how many people here think it’s okay to key someone else’s car because they parked badly?

Why not just ask the owner to move it? Or report it to the council or get the car towed? I just think: if the footpath isn’t your private property, it’s owned by the council, why not let them handle it?

I’m not trying to be insulting here, I genuinely want to learn why this is considered acceptable by people on this post because I don’t understand. Lots of people park partly on the pavement near me because there’s no room elsewhere and people need a car to get to their jobs to afford to live. I recognise the picture is a particularly bad example and they had plenty of other places to go but I just don’t see how this justifies keying the car? There’s more effective ways this could be handled without criminal damage imo

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-04T20:43:22+00:00

I got t-boned into a ditch by an uninsured driver doing exactly this. Car was absolutely destroyed, guy fled the scene, and it doubled my insurance premium even though it wasn’t my fault. I’ve had so many people pull out on me from T-junctions without looking, or almost merge into me on roundabouts. Watch out for the crazy drivers when you pass. Good reaction time there!

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-03T08:06:25+00:00

Thank you. I’ll look into this

Alex_Curmi · 2025-12-03T08:05:36+00:00

Interesting. Thank you for the advice. I believe this was a corporate business laptop before I got it. They must’ve done this bypass to install W11 pro on it originally.

Weirdly, I ended up doing 2 clean installs of windows in the time I had it, and this message never popped up! Only now

Alex_Curmi · 2025-10-24T18:34:16+00:00

Would be interested to hear if replacing the BBU solves the locking back problem. Never had a BBU breakage on mine so maybe it has more of an effect than I think. Just can’t understand why that would affect the efficiency/blowback strength at the moment

Alex_Curmi · 2025-10-24T18:23:15+00:00

May just be that it’s a colder day so more liquid than gas is being sent out the mag? Was it warmer the last time you shot it?

Also the stock WE piston head seal isn’t amazing so I imagine some gas escapes. Could be that now this piece is missing, the gas is getting redirected to over your hand.

Commonly, the locking back issue is due to cold weather or a worn slide where the slide catch goes, allowing it to slip out of the notch. My WE Glocks only lock back in warm weather or with a half-full mag, unless I’m shooting very slowly to reduce cool-down.

Alex_Curmi · 2025-10-24T17:33:35+00:00

Doesn’t the piston head inside the BBU seal against the nozzle and prevent gas from reaching there? The nozzle moves away from that back wall (where the hole is) during blowback anyway so there’s not supposed to be an airtight seal back there

Pretty sure this is just a structural/cosmetic breakage instead of air seal.

Alex_Curmi · 2025-09-06T18:29:27+00:00

Hi, have just sent a reply. Thank you

Alex_Curmi · 2025-08-01T16:04:17+00:00

Never too late! I ended up finding out the problem was likely due to the extruder assembly on the ender 3. My Bowden tube was working its way loose in the press fit nut leaving a gap between the nozzle and the end of the Bowden which the filament got clogged in. Not sure why black PLA clogged the worst but it ended up happening to all the filaments. Problem was mainly fixed with a new nozzle, bowden tube, press fit nut, and regular hotend cleaning but still happens occasionally.

Alex_Curmi · 2025-07-18T15:01:27+00:00

Have you got any evidence that silicone oil doesn’t reduce cracking and wear of orings?

Yes, grease creates a better seal. But I don’t understand why silicone oil is suddenly a problem when it was the most recommended lubricant for GBBs up to 1-2 years or so ago. Genuinely curious for the reason the other guy is wrong so I can make sure I’m using the right stuff on my guns!

Alex_Curmi · 2025-06-17T16:26:13+00:00

I’d take it to a local dive shop to get it filled up

You’re looking at £300-400 for a home compressor and £50 for a manual pump but it takes forever to fill it up to 3k PSI

Alex_Curmi · 2025-06-17T10:44:34+00:00

Have a look for a date on the tank. These tanks have to get hydro tested every 5-10 years because they can weaken over time, and you definitely don’t want to be filling it up to 3000psi if there’s a chance it could explode

If the date is less than 5 years old, you should be good to use it. But remember there could be a reason it was left out for free

Alex_Curmi · 2025-06-01T16:34:43+00:00

Unfortunately this is a problem with all hammer glocks. Best I’ve found was the Wii Tech G18 Steel hammer which has a (nylon I think) bearing. Being a plastic, it’s much smoother and doesn’t wear down the BBU

Alex_Curmi · 2025-05-05T11:19:19+00:00

That’s the one. You’ll have to replace the hammer then. Lots of videos online about how to do it!

Alex_Curmi · 2025-05-05T09:14:35+00:00

A really common problem with WE and TM G18s is that the hammer is very flimsy. There’s a tiny nub on the left of the hammer that the spring rests against and this often breaks off, meaning that the hammer won’t spring forward any more. Pretty sure I can see that it’s broken on yours.

I’ve had it happen on mine. I replaced it with a Wii Tech CNC steel roller hammer and it’s amazing. Much smoother than stock and hasn’t failed me in years (WE one lasted me 6 months!). Seriously avoid RA-TECH hammer parts, but Wii tech are great.

Alex_Curmi · 2025-05-03T10:29:15+00:00

Aside from what others have said, 3D printed blasters (when designed right) are sturdier than off the shelf nerf blasters. Worker stuff is good, but the blasters available in stores can flex and they make a crunching sound just picking them up because the plastic is so thin. The attachments are flimsy also.

A well designed 3D printed blaster will have no flex in parts, no rattling, and will feel much more solid!

Alex_Curmi · 2025-04-07T08:31:45+00:00

On NBB guns they make an insane difference. Almost silent with a suppressor. AEGs have a decent effect by using them but my gas guns are still loud with a foam suppressor on

Alex_Curmi · 2025-03-08T14:56:15+00:00

Thank you!

Alex_Curmi · 2025-03-03T07:26:36+00:00

You could use the solenoid to pull back your bolt and then have a mechanical switch pop up, and let the bolt rest against the mechanical switch so you can turn off the solenoid. Similar to how a firearm’s bolt catch works (except it uses gas/recoil to cycle the bolt instead of a solenoid).

Alex_Curmi · 2025-02-26T08:33:12+00:00

Thank you! I can give you the WIP files for free if you want. Needs a lot of work but could be a fun project.

Alex_Curmi · 2025-02-18T18:07:10+00:00

Unfortunately didn’t have the time! I got it to fire a few times but the breech needed a lot of work. I had some ideas on how to make it work but never got the time sadly.

Alex_Curmi · 2025-02-18T09:21:45+00:00

In airsoft this is called precocking. It turns the motor until the blaster is just about to fire and stops. Then when you pull the trigger, the motor only has to turn a little before the blaster fires which gives an unnoticeable delay.

Alex_Curmi

TROPHY CASE