A parts search feels cheaper than a new grill because each click is small. The honest question is the sum this season — not one SKU — against a cart that still has a thin floor.
The five-minute audit
Do this cold, tank off.
- Firebox floor and lid. Daylight? Screwdriver through scale? Hinge torn out? If yes, treat it as a rusted firebox and a replacement candidate unless you weld.
- Drip system. Rail warped, cup melted, hole dumping into the tank cabinet? Cheap if the box is sound. Fire-damaged cabinet is not cheap.
- Burners. Count perforated tubes. One tube on a Genesis you love is a repair. Four tubes on a 720-series Nexgrill is a stack.
- Plates / flavorizers. Lace is expected and cheap. Lace plus tubes plus box rust is a stack.
- Ignition. Batteries and one ceramic are a repair. Melted panel plus a missing rail is a stack. See failed ignition.
- Gas train. Kinked hose is a repair. Manifold that was in a grease fire is a replacement.
Then:
- Write every part you would actually order this month.
- Search each on Amazon and BBQGuys (homepage finder).
- Write the current totals in a notebook. We will not guess them here.
When to repair
- Cook box is structurally sound and the cart is stable.
- You need one class of part (bars, or tubes, or an electrode).
- Spirit and Genesis boxes usually justify this.
- A Traeger with a good barrel and a dead hot rod is usually a repair.
When to replace
- You need three or more classes and the box is thin.
- The cart is a box-store unit whose new price (look it up today) sits next to the parts sum. Char-Broil Performance and Nexgrill 720 carts land here often.
- Manifold or cabinet is fire-damaged.
- Follow the flowchart above. YES on any of the three questions means stop buying parts.
Replace upward
- You were already unhappy with hot spots, a tiny firebox, or a dead pellet controller.
- If you will spend “new grill money,” spend it on the grill you wanted.
- Search BBQGuys for the class (3-burner gas, built-in, pellet). We do not pick a winner or invent a sale price.
Time is a line item
- Full burner-and-plate job: an afternoon.
- Hot rod: an afternoon with a meter.
- Rusted box: a weekend of regret.
- If you will not do the work, labor belongs on the list. This site does not dispatch techs.
What we will not do
- Invent “this $49 kit saves a $400 grill.”
- Publish star reviews of new grills.
- Claim stock or prices.
Related: Spirit tubes, Char-Broil plates, Traeger hot rod, deep clean.
Use the replacement-grill search above if you decided the cart is done.