Is it worth getting an 11 year old cartridge re-tipped?

@bazb 

A few months ago, I purchased a Clearaudio cartridge.  I had a few questions, so I e-mailed Garth Leerer of Musical Surroundings (USA distributor of Clearaudio products).

One of my questions pertained to re-tipping.  I wanted to know the process.  Who do I work with (Musical Surroundings or the store where I made the purchase)?

Do I have to ship it to Germany?

Garth told me that I would get a brand new cartridge.

I asked him what would happen if that model is no longer in production.  He replied that I would get its replacement or better.

and suspension seemed a bit flat.

If Lyra works the same way as Clearaudio, then the suspension issue is not an issue.

I had Soundsmith re-tip my Lyra Skala several years ago, and the results were fine, but it was no longer a Lyra.  It sounded OK, but nothing like the original.  Soundsmith's 'one size fits all' re-tipping strategy just didn't do it for me personally, and I would likely never use them again.  That same cartridge is now with Joseph Long with instructions to restore it as closely as possible to original Lyra spec.  I expect good things, as I would from VAS.  

I would contact Lyra for a price and time as well if you haven't to compare a factory rebuild to others.  I feel the others will all do a fine job but not with original parts if that concerns you as palasr comments.  I had S.S. rebuild a Helicon last year after I snagged and broke the stylus.  Lyra would only take it on trade-in for a new Kleos or better as the Helicon was now too long out of production.  Trade-in's are done through a dealer. Peter installed a new boron cantilever and contact-line stylus for under $500 and turned it around in a couple of weeks.  I'm happy with the sound but it's been too long to remember how it sounded when it was new to comment on comparing. Additionally after the mis-hap I put on a factory re-built Decca London Gold and it was a year before I acted to fix the Lyra, so a long break from hearing it in it's last warn condition and the Decca sound is different. I'm back to using the Helicon and enjoying the sound of the re-build.