Perhaps not correctly understanding the problem - forgive me if this is the case.
But, for example, If I set Lightroom to print an image sized at, say, 400mm x 300mm on A3+ paper and set "Managed by Printer" and then set the Properties in my Epson R3000 dialog as, say, Photo Black Ink, Premium Semi-Gloss, Advanced B&W Photo, Max Quality, Neutral..... and then create a User Template with those settings, then every time I use that template, those are the (initial) settings I will get. I can, of course, then alter any of them if I wish.
What if, at the time you specified your Lightroom Preset, you had Epson driver settings like:
0) Epson 9900 (instead of other printer you have installed)
1) Roll paper path
2) Media type Photo Paper>Premium Luster
3) Roll paper Cut Off
4) Platen gap 4
5) Drying Time Per Head Pass +20
Would these driver settings load each time you called up your Lightroom Print Preset?
In my experience, the driver settings, examples of which I've given above, do not load when calling up the LR preset. The driver settings generally loaded are, instead:
1) The most recently used printer, e.g. Epson 4900 rather than 9900
2) All the other driver settings last used for the 4900 rather than those stored for the 9900
The above responses suggest that this is the expected behavior that prompted my OP. If this is not expected, and you are achieving something else, kindly chime in. Jeff Schewe's interpretation may well have been that LR-specific settings weren't sticking, and that is not the case. The LR-specific settings are sticking with the Print presets, but they are only a portion of those settings that need to be called up when printing. I note that users who send files to only one printer, with the same paper path and media settings each time they print, won't resonate with my frustration.
If interaction between the Epson driver and LR can be made to allow Presets to retain this kind of data, it would be very useful, in my opinion. Can anyone comment whether Canon driver settings are retained?
John Caldwell