Reply #8: Coming from three generations of plumbers

[Robb]

...I think he might've misspoke.

Generally, there are several models within a fixture line, some are designed for fewer problems, for commercial and higher-use installations -- and those are the kind plumbers like to install. They do cost more, but for example in a hard-to-get-to place, you want something that isn't likely to fail, even in several years.

It's the difference between, for example, a shaped ceramic valve and a rubber-sealed one. Neither will leak when you install them, the rubber one has a lifetime measured in years, the ceramic one in decades.