Is there life after aperture block failure?

PocketPixels wrote:

It is absolutely terrible that any Pentax/Ricoh cameras still suffer from this problem some five years after it first surfaced. Ricoh should have issued a recall/fix or promised some sort of extended warranty for these repairs.

Apple had a massive defect back in 2011–2012 with their 15-inch MacBook Pro models, where a tiny capacitor on the graphics card would overheat and cause the machine to reboot whenever it got hot. Apple eventually extended the warranties on those laptops out to 2016 for that particular failure. Ricoh/Pentax should have done something similar, or the Pentaxians should have forced the issue by filing a class action suit.

However…
You can get the aperture block failure repaired at KEH or Precision Camera for about $200. That's awful. It's unfair. It's mean. But, well, it's only $200. You should still be upset about it, but ultimately $200 is not a lot of money to pay to put that particular issue to rest forever.

If my beloved Pentax K-S2 ever develops aperture block failure, I'll yell and scream and punch the wall…but then I'll pay the $200. Unfair, yes, but it's worth it to get my favorite camera back in action.

I have considered getting it fixed, but I don't know how long the 'fix' will last if the part is still the same - not willing to chuck money at it.  At least half of my use is macro with a manual lens anyway, so for the time-being I can put up with the inconvenience of using AA batteries and having to discard the usual first half-dozen or so dark shots (shot on continuous at max speed).