The 3525 was a pretty good value at it's previous low street prices of $700-750. The weight, limited travel and reticle certainly didn't help, but it was still a good value compared to the MPO. I'm curious how the illumination compares between the two.
I also grabbed a 1-5 as a cheap entry into the LVPO world. The reticle is daylight bright, at least for the brightest days we've had recently (not very). The reticle seems to work well. At minimum magnification there is some fisheye / barrel distortion, but somewhere around 1.2-1.3x that seems to subside. I highly recommend the separately available throw levers.
Since these are contract manufactured, any repairs were likely handled by replacement for previously warranty repaired scopes. So, if CT has stopped doing business with JOL, then any replacement would likely be from the current product line. Which, as you've noted, do not appear to be equivalent products. Getting a discontinued scope from Bushnell means you'll likely be 'upgraded' to a current equivalent product if direct repairs/replacement is not available.