Driving over small bumps, or driveway edge is a hard jolt

I had the same problem, and my diagnosis was spot on.. it was the coils. Although, mine was a second hand car, and the previous owner had replace the original coils with sports version and they were too soft. The coils were hitting each other when there is significant movement. So get the coils checked.. cheers

Hi Prabos,
Thank you for your reply. I'm confused though, because I'm wondering maybe you are giving the name of "coils" to "springs?" I thought the coils were the voltage things, with wire coiled around. Are the "coils" or springs part of the suspension? I had the suspension checked at a couple places. But your point is good, and if I still hear the noise, I'll ask them to check the coils (springs) for how soft they are.

But a lot has happened since I posted the question; I have found some answers. I took the car to a shop (and to a 2nd dealers for a 2nd opinion) where they showed me that the front bumper was not attached on the left front side, so it rattled and banged over bumps. Also the right front headlite was not fully attached, and it pivoted and bumped over bumps. They also discovered that the car had been in a wreck--the tie-on bar had been bent a little on the driver's side in front. The connecting pieces on the bumper and car (left front) were all mangled up due to a wreck. There had been an attempt to use epoxy to make the light assembly stay in place.

I took the car back to the dealer's where I bought it, and they are attaching the bumper and putting in a new light assembly, re-checking the frame, re-checking the car for safety, etc. However when I test-drove the car, the salesman had me drive over a route I was unfamiliar with that avoided all the railroad tracks and went on smooth roads, so when I test drove it, I avoided all bumps in roads.

This has all been very distressing.