yup. that leak is the oil return line seal. I've had mine go twice and i'm at 80K miles now. As someone else said, the seal is a couple of dollars and it should be around an hour of labor. If your indy mechanic is not familiar with the process and thinks it will take longer, than maybe a visit to the dealer for this one fix is warranted.

did you get a manual or automatic? If automatic, I suggest you get the tranny flushed and filled with synthetic immediately. Mine started slipping around 60K and found the problem was common among owners and what to do about it. It shifts like new again. I will do the flush and fill every 30K from now on.

As far as that noise in the rear, I have the same issue. I have chosen to ignore it. BUT, I did finally realize that I had a noise in the front as well. Living with the noise in the rear for so long sort of masked the noise in the front. Anyway, I replaced the swaybar endlinks and it made the car much quieter again. Now I just have the slight noise in the rear over bumps. Those front endlinks are another weak point and, from what I understand from other owners, is another 60K fix that usually needs doing. Very cheap and quick, so not a big deal.

I put Continental ContiExtremes on a few thousand miles ago and have been very happy so far. I had the Michelin Pilots on before these. I bought the car with 30K on it and drove it with those tires till about 75K, so they lasted quite a long time. May have even been original for all I know.