Maybe, but those can often be replaced. I think the metal and the unit overall design is just much cheaper now a days. The whole they don’t build them like they used to thing.

My own aqua stat box (water thermostat) died but I was able to have it replaced for about $350 all together. That was actually when I had the long convo with the HVAC tech (who was my client for other work) and he told me to keep this as long as I can cause they see a lot of issues with the newer ones and the life span is around 10-15 years only depending on the model.