Hard to explain exactly how water repellent coating failing makes the jacket less comfortable if you haven't experienced it. No, generally that is, Goretex, as long as the membrane remains intact, seams sealed, and clean doesn't leak. But when/if the repellent gives up the entire exterior becomes saturated and clingy. It feels like, I don't know exactly, perhaps like wearing a wet tee-shirt over a plastic bag.

It is a good news/bad news situation. Good news is that there are good DWR, durable water repellent, treatments out there and if a Goretex jacket just doesn't seem to work as well as it once did it might just be partial failure of the repellent that is the problem. Retreating with DWR may restore an old friend to health for a few more years, or extended second-line service.

The bad news is that Gortex, and similar, don't always take well to cleaning and retreament with a DWR finish. I've had people tell me that beyond hosing off with potable water and dabbing off spills they never wash their Goretex. Once it soaks up a certain amount of human grease, salt and dirt it will leak and no amount of washing and retreatment will restore it. That your best option is replacement. And these are people who spend hundreds of dollars buying a single jacket that lasts them a couple of years hard camping use, or one long third-world trip. One quipped that hiking in South America in the 90s he could buy your typical mountain village for the price of his $1200 rain ensemble.

Of course, since then, prices have come down and Goretex, and other membrane products, have gotten better.