2009 Yaris sedan problems

[BennyLava]

Hi all. I have a 2009 Yaris sedan. I have two problems.

1. There is some kind of clunking noise coming from the suspension. When I go over bumps, it goes "clunk". Now, I have not gotten under there and checked everything out. Chances are, I might find the problem when I do. The reason I'm asking, is in case I can't find the problem. As in, its not one of the more obvious culprits like a ball joint or a tie rod or a rubber bushing. Is there a common problem that might be causing this? Are the shocks prone to failure on the Yaris?

2. Sometimes the transmission acts... strange. Sometimes when you're just starting off in first gear, if you give it just a little too much gas, the car acts like it wants to go into hot rod mode. The RPM's go way up and it tries to just take off. As well as a stock Yaris can take off, anyway. I don't like this behavior from the transmission. It scares me. By which I mean, I'm afraid that its bad for it. Cause when it does this, it shifts really hard from first to second. Its very unlike its normal behavior. It never shifts rough, until it does this weirdness. I don't like it, and I want it to stop. Is there some kind of factory programming, or something that causes the car to act like this, when you mash the pedal a little too hard?

The car just reached 90k miles, and I am about to have the toyota dealership flush the transmission. Maybe that will help?

3. I know I already asked something about shocks, but this is more of a routine maintenance thing. If indeed the shocks are causing the clunking noise, I'm not going to give toyota a second chance on their shocks. I'm going to go with something better. How long are the tockio blues supposed to last, and are they valved correctly for a smooth ride? I know they're better shocks than stock, but do they actually last very long? Not all monotube shocks are created equal.