Water heaters here lead a harder life than they would inland, and where yours sits matters as much as how old it is.
Salt air reaches the installation
Where a heater sits in an enclosure under a raised house, salt reaches the casing, the fittings and the flue. The tank may be perfectly sound while everything connected to it corrodes, so it is worth having the whole installation looked at rather than only the unit.
Awkward spaces in old houses
In older cottages the heater is often tucked into a closet, an attic or a crawl space that was never designed for it. That affects both what fails and how a repair gets done, which is why a price over the phone is guesswork.
What is worth repairing
A thermostat, element, thermocouple or gas valve on a tank under about eight years old is normally worth fixing. If the tank itself is leaking rather than a fitting, it has rusted through and no repair will hold — we will tell you that plainly.
Pans matter above living space
Any heater sitting above a room needs a pan properly plumbed to a drain. A number of older island installations do not have one, and in a house with original ceilings that is worth correcting.