The best guess is that the noise is being generated by the electric motor integrated into the steering column that acts as the power-steering in the Kona. If it’s s faint noise that is heard more often with the windows closed and the stereo off, then it’s the same noise that other Kona owners have noted.

Another possibility is a noisy clock-spring. This is a flexible electrical contact inside the top of the steering column that allows the steering wheel to turn while still maintaining all the electrical contacts that power the air-bags and steering wheel-mounted controls. These clock springs often become noisy just before they fail.

Your car is still under warranty, and since you’ve already logged the fault with your Hyundai dealer, it’s now a pre-existing problem and must be fixed by Hyundai, even if the car itself runs out of warranty in the meantime.

It’s a bit of a surprise to learn that a brand-new muffler lasted just two years before needing replacement, and that’s certainly not what most mechanics would consider normal. But it isn’t unheard of, either.

One of the by-products of burning petrol is water. That explains the cloud-like water-vapour you see when a car is first started on a cold morning. Once the car is up to running temperature, however, that water is turned completely to steam and exits the tailpipe. But, if the vehicle is only ever used for short trips where the exhaust system never gets hot enough to evaporate all that water, then the water can sit inside the system (typically inside the muffler, and in a sometimes acidic environment) where it can cause rust to develop.

This is a lot less common in modern cars with catalytic converters which cause the exhaust to run at a higher temperature and get there faster, but it can still happen – as you now know. The best fix is to fit a stainless-steel exhaust system which simply refuses to rust, but they’re expensive and I wouldn’t expect Hyundai to go to that expense for a warranty claim.

So will it happen again in another two years? If the cause of the rusty muffler is as I’ve explained here, then there’s a very good chance it will happen again thanks to your car’s pattern of use. But if the problem was simply a bad batch of mufflers that weren’t rust-proofed correctly at the factory (and it happens) then a new muffler shouldn’t rot out so quickly. But it makes us wonder if Victoria’s extended COVID lockdown and the notorious five-kilometre-radius-from-home rule may have forced drivers into lots of short trips for months on end. Perhaps you’re seeing the start of a trend here.

This is a relatively common complaint among Hyundai Kona owners. Sometimes the noise manifests as a buzz or a groan and sometimes it’s loud enough to hear over the stereo. Since your car has electrically-assisted power-steering, there’s no chance that it’s a lack of hydraulic fluid causing the noise, but some Hyundai specialists believe the noise comes from a worm gear within the electric assistance unit. It seems that even in almost new cars, there can be enough wear in this component to cause a noise. The other possible cause is the clock-spring which is a spring that resides inside the steering column and maintains the electrical connections with the steering-wheel mounted controls, the air-bag and the rest of the car, yet still allows you to turn the wheel to steer the car. The good news is that your car is well and truly within the factory warranty period, so a Hyundai dealer is obliged to sort it out for you. Just don’t make the mistake of taking 'they all do that' for an answer.