Why Is It?

Actually, Rusty, it has ALWAYS been "a thing." When I was in the Navy we had guys (electronic techs) who were poor at troubleshooting. the knew that this tube or that component had failed, and it was in the neighborhood, so they'd try that again first and hope. There is even a name for it........"easter egging".

In my years selling auto parts it was a thing. 74 to about ?? about a dozen years I guess