Look past the links and I think you'll see that I'm agreeing with everything you just wrote.
For the record, the "Similar Threads" search that auto-launches when you create a new thread is pretty useless. As you discovered, even if your phrasing is identical to the title of another thread, there's no guarantee you'll get it back (largely because it only displays 5 results sorted in reverse date order). This is why I say search then post, rather than click "New Thread" and hope the auto function works.
And I'll say it once again for emphasis: I think a new thread on this topic is completely fine.![]()