Clutch Master Cylinder Push Rod broke in my Hyundai Verna

My cousin who drove the car told me that the clutch operation was getting increasingly difficult and at one point it was very hard to press and it broke.

sai_crdi recently shared this with other BHPians.

I have been gaining a great deal of knowledge from Team-BHP about automobiles for over a decade now. I have owned Accent Crdi, Fluidic Verna (4S) and a Nissan Rogue (USA). The knowledge gained here has helped me diagnose/prevent/troubleshoot many issues with the cars.

I am at present in the USA. My 4 year old Verna (VTVT) is taken care of by my dad. Not driven often, but jacked up all 4 wheels during the lockdown and was started every other week, battery disconnected etc. It is a closed garage which helps to keep the car clean and away from insects/rodents.

We faced a strange issue with the clutch. Last year when it was taken to the fuel station, the rod in the master cylinder assembly which connects the clutch lever with the master cylinder broke. As the car was in extended warranty, the whole assembly was replaced in A.S.S.

After this, the car was not taken out due to the lockdown and as my parents are senior citizens, the car was not taken out of the garage but was just being taken of care by the routine maintenance of the long term parked cars.

Last week, we had to take the car out as we needed to refuel. Almost half tank of petrol was consumed in the bi-weekly engine start/run in the past 1 year. In effect, the car was driven less than 10 km after the previous clutch MS replacement. The rod broke again. My cousin who drove the car told me that the clutch operation was getting increasingly difficult and at one point it was very hard to press and it broke.

Need help with the below 2 questions

1. I am curious to know what could cause this type of variable hardness which is not there when we start the car but gets harder when the car was driven. Any relevant experience, root cause analysis will help a lot.

2. We are out of warranty now and any repair should be from the pocket. Though the part was used for less than 10 km, as it has been more than 6 months, will Hyundai still honor the warranty of the MC and replace?

I thought I could use some consult from the BHPians. Your help is appreciated.

Note: The car was never abused. Maintained and driven in a very careful manner singlehandedly.

Thanks to sai_crdi once again! Check out BHPian comments for more insights & information.