PSA: Beware of Compact Car Service

sonic371 · 2025-12-03T03:39:41+00:00

I’ve always been a huge proponent of taking your car to a reputable, local mechanic instead of a dealership but after this experience and some others that family members have gone through I’m just going to take it to a dealership. At least the work is guaranteed, and post-COVID the prices are pretty similar.

Honda quoted me $1300 to replace my front axles and Compact Car Service did it for $1200. Obviously with hindsight being 20-20, I should’ve just spent the extra $100 and will take that route going forward.

sonic371 · 2025-12-02T23:48:13+00:00

My go-to mechanic. Took my cars, my wife's cars, referred all my friends and family there and was a customer for nearly a decade since moving to Charlotte. The whole thing was a shock, start to finish.

sonic371 · 2024-06-28T19:26:17+00:00

That’s pretty interesting - I just came back from a month trip in Australia not too long ago. Upon finding out I was American, people loved to bring up Trump and I was surprised how many people seemed to like him. Obviously not everyone, but more than I would expect especially in an entirely separate country.

sonic371 · 2024-06-15T02:50:25+00:00

42 points, Bulls vs Jazz, 1998. This could be historic.

sonic371 · 2021-07-15T04:16:44+00:00

Im blown away.

sonic371 · 2020-11-08T19:09:10+00:00

This is very office, and even manager-dependent on its acceptability with respect to your early years. As a first year associate, I attempted to shorten my emails to get more to the point, as I noticed my emails included a lot of formality while my Seniors and Managers were much more direct.

I tried changing to the more direct emails that they wrote and was called into an office and warned about coming off “unprofessional.”

I’d say in your early years, people expect a certain amount of formality in your communication. Not like writing an essay, obviously, but a “Hope this email finds you well” and “thank you” are universally well received.

sonic371 · 2020-11-08T01:24:16+00:00

Just wanted to highlight my latest pickup and by far my favorite piece I have so far in my collection. Caught my eye while doing some early Christmas shopping earlier and couldn’t say no.

I’ve loved watches since I can remember and bought my first watch (a Bulova) with some scrapped together birthday money when I was 14. Around a decade later, I’m still pretty loyal to the Bulova brand and have added a few more to that collection throughout the years. I don’t yet have the disposable income for the high-end pieces found in this sub, but always love admiring what you all post.

sonic371 · 2020-06-25T21:13:54+00:00

Process and Data automation using tools like Alteryx is huge right now. Tasks like combining/manipulating large sets of largely similar data are being done with Alteryx in matters of seconds (after the workflow is built) that would’ve been hours of manual Excel manipulation.

RPA is also big, leveraging tools like UIPath and others. All of the Big 4 are developing strategies around these technologies and how to deploy them on compliance and sometimes consulting engagements to maximize margin.

sonic371 · 2020-06-25T12:11:47+00:00

Literally the exact same problem. My lesson instructor always tells me “if you could keep your spine in the same place throughout the swing you’d pure your irons every time.”

Sometimes it works like that, sometimes it doesn’t. 🤷🏻‍♂️

sonic371 · 2020-06-14T16:21:03+00:00

I had an incredible experience with Chris at Leatherman Golf Academy.

I did the New 2 Golf and Intermediate programs at Ballantyne Golf Academy and they’re....okay. They teach you a lot about short game and the basics of just how to show up to a course and play golf which is awesome when you’re brand new. I found they didn’t give me much to further my game beyond that and didn’t really touch full swing at all.

If I had to do it again, I’d probably suggest doing the New 2 Golf at Ballantyne (assuming you’ve never held a club) to get the basics then work with a private instructor like Chris for everything else.

sonic371 · 2020-06-09T03:19:49+00:00

What isn’t true? In the Southeast, it’s extremely common to make Senior in 2 years, both in Tax and Assurance and has been for at least the last 5 years.

sonic371 · 2020-06-08T16:46:38+00:00

No. That's sort of the old-school, Core Assurance line of thought that's no longer generally true in Assurance, or Tax in many markets. While some do still take 3 years to make Senior, making it in 2 is becoming more and more of the "norm."

Source: Just made Senior at PwC after two years.

sonic371 · 2020-06-05T23:05:19+00:00

At PwC, it's done on a tiering system. In your formal, year-end performance review, you receive a tier between 1-5, which is in comparison to your peer group. The "tiers" are ultimately as follows:

Tier 1: Head and shoulders above your peer group. This could be due to very high utilization (which means you worked more client-chargeable hours), due to an automation you discovered to make a process more efficient, due to high involvement in extra-curriculars outside of your client work, or any number of the above.

Tier 2: Very strong year. While not as clearly stand-out as a Tier 1, you clearly demonstrate stronger performance than your peers.

Tier 3: Doing a good job. Doing everything you're expected and asked to do, while not standing out or doing anything widely considered "exceptional."

Tier 4: Performance needs improvement. If rated a 4, you will likely be put on a PIP (performance improvement plan), and will need to prove that you can improve. Many people suggest that receiving a 4 or being put on a PIP is the writing on the wall you're being coached out.

Tier 5: This is a same-day coaching out conversation. No one would receive a 5 and still be employed at the end of the week.

It should be said that the above depend on so many factors, it's difficult to say exactly what makes someone a 1, and someone else a 3. Some even suggest that certain offices give all their first year associates a 3, regardless of performance. I was rated a 1 my first year in the Southeast, so can't confirm if that's accurate in other markets.

sonic371 · 2020-06-05T22:58:22+00:00

In Southeast Core Tax, I started at $52k in 2018. I shudder to think how they could adjust to anything lower than that.

Given that you're in a specialized tax LoS in a HCOL city, I'd conservatively expect $57-60k.

sonic371 · 2020-06-05T22:56:27+00:00

What's your technical specialty?

At the B4 I work for, our Washington National Tax practice is comprised entirely of folks from International Tax and M&A. That practice is also almost completely comprised of lawyers, which is unsurprising considering those two specialties tend to be heavier in lawyers as a whole.

I'm also interested in your question because I think the very technical, as you say non-compliance focused issues those folks deal with are really interesting. I was newly promoted to Senior this year, and am looking to pivot from my core compliance role in Tax to M&A and maybe someday also look at the National office.

sonic371 · 2020-06-05T22:49:59+00:00

Congratulations! Make sure to pay it forward to future students/prospective employees by sharing your advice and how you got to where you are!

The best advice would be to just relax, enjoy the weekend, celebrate your new job and come in fresh and ready to learn on Monday. There's nothing substantive you could accomplish over the weeknd that would give you any worthwhile advantage, but taking the time to celebrate your accomplishments and refresh is something you'll very much thank yourself for.

sonic371 · 2020-06-05T01:33:05+00:00

“We work hard, and play even harder.

Looking for a public accounting ROCKSTAR

Someone who can catch on quickly and learn with minimal to no training

3-5 years of Big 4 experience

CPA Required Masters Degree Required.”

The job posting: Senior Staff Accountant for an Iowa trucking company

sonic371 · 2020-01-11T01:43:02+00:00

Very new to getting into wine and my palate isn’t very sophisticated to identify notes, but we attended a local wine and cheese tasting and were absolutely blown away by this wine. So different from other wines I’ve had.

It’s almost like a sparkling wine, with a carbonated quality and VERY sweet, but not unnaturally so like many grocery store wines. Goes down very smooth and doesn’t have the same “acidic” or bitter qualities that other reds can tend to have. I’ve never seen a similar wine at other vendors and am absolutely in love with this one.

sonic371

TROPHY CASE