Rattling noises

I have a 2000 Sunfire SE two door, manual transmission. I've had the car for 2 months (so far so good) it has 50,000kms. I was given a saftey, inspections and emmission when I bought it. However, I have noticed the car makes a lot of noise. When I go over bumps the boot covers and the heat shield rattle, and the car shakes. As well when I change from first into second the heat shield also rattles. The performance of the car is in no way deminished with the noise, however, it is annoying and embarrassing to explain to my passagers who think the engine is going to fall out or my wheels fall off. Any help would be great, I would love to have an idea of the kind of repairs needed before some repair shop trys to rip me off.

The heat shields can be removed to eliminate that noise. The other noise you hear may relate to the struts especially since you hear it when you go over bumps. Have the strut bearings checked. This is a problem on many models and often results in the struts being replaced. Even with 50000KMS this is a possibility.