thanks all, i'll definitely look into all your suggestions!

here's a new one to add to the list of worries, lol:

so on a typical day, i'll leave work around 5pm, start my car and start driving home. I have 5 miles of local traffic, about 12 miles of freeway traffic and another 3 miles of local before I get home. the trip usually takes me about 45min-1hr. On my last stretch of local traffic going home, i'll come to a full stop at the stop light. then, when i begin to accelerate, i'll hear a scraping sound from somewhere under my car (i think), towards the front. Now this only happens at low speeds of around 10-20mph (unless it happens at higher speeds also and my engine drowns out the noise), and it only happens after my car has been driven for a lil while.

i've noticed this for a few months now (4-6 months), and it hasnt caused any problems I can tell, but it does cause me concern. I thought it could be my transmission, but i'm not sure. throughout this period i've done oil changes and I believe a 60K tune up. No one from the shops have ever mentioned anything to me about it.

do you guys have any idea what this might be?