Any lifter can fail and plenty before 09 did. But you cannot deny the greater occurrence and identification of it in the post-2009 redesign. I joined the forums when I bought my first one in 06. I didn't hear much about it until 2010. Bought my second in 2011. And yes, there is an enormous difference between the "tick" causes. Lifters just being one. That's my point of wondering what the actual rate of occurrence of lifter failure is. My belief is that they took notice, looked into it, saw low numbers, realized there wasn't much they could do, and let it go. A "bad" batch of parts is a QC issue, and that can be fixed. Design issues? Not cheaply, so they weigh it and just continue as is. That's manufacturing.
And I agree, I wouldn't bother asking the engineer about it because it doesn't really matter. If they did investigate and identify the root cause, he isn't going to say much about it while there is a lawsuit in play. I'd hit him with questions about the new engine and new tech on the '25s. Not silly crap like "why does the Tungsten only have a 1K payload?". More like; Is the oil quantity system that accurate and dependable?