A few questions, new here.

So I started grilling this year and used a Char-Broil gas kettle. Liked it, but a pain to clean the "tru-infared" grates.
I found a 2012 Weber Spirit for $40 on Craigslist. Needed a few parts, which Weber supplied me with.
The lid on said grill is under warranty, but Weber stopped making said lid. I guess my Weber had a longer warranty, which they shortened the warranties I guess.

1. I looked it up, but why Weber stop making gas kettles? A lot of people live in apartments and have small patios.
2. I ordered a new set of porcelain enamel grates, how do they stack up against stainless? (couldn't afford them), read the cast iron ones rust. Weber seems pricey on parts.
3. I read to NOT use a wire brush on the PE grates, due to the coating wearing off. Is this true? If so, how do you clean them?
4. Are the stainless steel flavorizer bars for $25 off eBay good ones? Do SS flavorizer bars improve taste?

Thanks

First, welcome to our forum!

Weber stopped making gas kettles some 35 years ago because they didn’t work well - at least to many people. They went back to the drawing board and developed the original Genesis as their answer to how a gas grill should really be made. In addition to a strong, simple build it incorporated innovations such as the flavorizer bars and multiple straight tube burners that have been copied by most other manufacturers.

For a small space, a Weber Q might have been a better fit for you. It is simple and other than the grate pretty much impervious to rust. Yet, it delivers great grilling with easy clean up.

Most of us here would agree that stainless rods are the easiest, longest lasting grate option. I love old style cast iron, too, but the newer porcelain plated kind will inevitably start to peal and flake off. Using harsh scrapers will certainly accelerate that. A wood scraper or non-metal brush (used when the grate is warm not hot) are two solutions for avoiding wire brushes that can scratch off the porcelain and much more ominously potentially leave behind dangerous metal bristles.

Weber is generally not cheap for parts. The aftermarket varies widely. I would suggest you look at the “sticky” thread about grill replacement parts for consensus recommendations for specific parts. Stainless flavorizer bars are going to last longer than porcelain coated regular steel. However, the thickness of the metal matters and the I believe so does the type of stainless. If you go with the cheapest 18 gauge 430 stainless bars you might not do any better than you would with porcelain steel. The very best stainless flavorizer bars are made by a guy named Dave Santana known on eBay as “rcplanebuyer.” His are heavy gauge 304 stainless. They are not cheap but worth it for a long term “keeper” grill. There are other makers who also make thicker bars and use 304. I can recommend ones made by a Chinese company Qlimetal as being a solid, less pricey alternative. You can find their products on Amazon. They seem to me to be a better choice than some other cheaper import brands. Their products show more effort at quality control. Qlimetal is also a frequent advertiser on our site.

Stainless flavorizers are best for longevity, but I have never heard anyone assert that they improve the taste of food.

I found a seller called "Think Crucial" selling Cast Iron grates, got a set for $23.40 total.
Got a set of SS Flavorizers for $28.95
So will have $92.35 in this grill. Hopefully I can sell the Weber Porcelain Enamel (Steel, not cast iron) for $40 and have $52.35 total in it.

The gaps on those grates looks pretty big, but that is a good price for CI grates. Let us know how they work out for your when you use them.

This is the website for above ...https://www.thinkcrucial.com/pages/search-results?q=Weber Parts

Interesting. But it looks like they are only available for the 2 burner grill which is weird. The 3 burner grill is way more common.

I stopped by Wal-Mart tonight and looked at a Spirit II.
I like some of the things about the new design, like the scale.
However, the build quality seems cheaper.
You don't get doors or 4 wheels, only 2.
Weber still makes the Weber Spirit, although a different design, with a tank behind the door like the older ones.
However they also cost about $200 more than this one did.