and so did the expansion tank.

Seems like they used to last a lot longer,

I thought it just needed an anode rod replacement, but the whole thing had to be replaced.

Price sounds about right for what they are charging these days.

Sorry that happened.

I was going to do mine myself, but my back was bad and I don't like messing with gas.

My old one was years old, and I was glad to only spend that much. He also replaced the bladder.

It was a special order, 50 gallon short, I paid $540, installed it myself. My previous water heater was 40 gallon standard height, it lasted about 13 years.

It seems the predominant brand is Corro-Protec.

Not an advertisement or recommendation, just what I've seen:

https://www.corroprotec.com/

There are less expensive no-name brands too, hopefully not made of toxic mystery metals.

We currently have a tankless water heater. This DID NOT save us money when we had teenagers living in the house! A tankless water heater places no limits on the length of time they can be in the shower.

When I was a kid there were so many people living in our house that my parents had to impose a strict five minute limit on showers to keep the peace. When the hot water ran out taking cold showers was no fun, especially since my dad believed that there was never any good reason to heat a house in Southern California. His dad, who grew up in rural Montana, believed the same.