I have some rattling sounds in my front end when I drive over small bumps or cracks in the road, what could it be.

I have a 2000 TL-p ONLY 55k though

am I due for new shocks and struts?

 

Could be struts, the upper strut bushings, ball joints or endlinks. Endlinks are known to go, especially with the age of your car, ball joints too. Those are what i would look at first.

 

How much should I expect to pay at a garage to inspect and diagnose the problem?

 

All depends on where you live and where you bring it. Any where between 40 to 100 would be a safe bet. Most of it you could inspect yourself

 

could be a bad tranny mount too. That's what was the cause for my 2+ year long rattling issue. Never thought to even check there until it got to the point where I had chancged out so many things that I was literally ready to tear the car apart to find it.