I bought my SLE my senior yr of college after a maniac destroyed my baby (92 lumina z 34) and have noticed quirks?
1st off I have 2 fist sized bubles that look like rust on the hood and nowhere else, I thought it was a flood car at first but that cheecked out ok! had been told other 00'* had similar issues (rust on the hood) this true?
2nd there is a tump sound when ever I cut hard right or left , like when im parking
sounds like im hitting a card board box?
3rd the led light on the stereo system is faded out? I know I should just replace it with an aftermarket head unit but like the factory cd/tape deck component? any suggestions?

any help is appericated guys!!!!

if u do a search you will find answer to radio LED and paint bubble.You can buy the light bulb for radio and the paint is cause of aluminum hood and using wrong primer something of that effect.Try a search these are common problems
What year, paint may be warranty.(put year and model in sig)

read the sticky at the top of the section about "intermediate shaft" thats likely your steering problem

[quote="luminazkidd21"]2nd there is a tump sound when ever I cut hard right or left , like when im parking
sounds like im hitting a card board box? quote]

Another possibility.

I don't have the steering shaft problem on my car so I'm not sure what the sound is like. However I did have a strut bearing problem on my 03 when turning the wheel or starting after parking. The spring would vibrate when the front wheels were being turned as the friction in the rubber bearing caught and then let go. I felt it in the floorboard. It was like someone had dropped a box onto the trunk floor, low pitched and short. When turning the front wheels from left to right on a surface that let the tires move, like gravel or grass, I could feel the spring shuddeer when it let go by holding my fingers on the spring above the front wheel. It occured on one side only.

thats exactly how mine sounds different situations cause it to sound differently. I think that may be it. was this easy/inexpensive to repair or does it require a dealer/shop to fix

Mine was done at dealer under warranty. I don't know if it requires any special equipment.
Others here do I'm sure!!!

Which does yours sound like, the intermediate shaft, or the strut bearing? The shaft does not require any special tools, but the strut bearing would require a spring compressor.

I really think its the Strut bearing, I listened to it all weekend and its only coming from the right passenger side wheel? any ideas on cost of repair?