2012 fan assembly - options?

[pseudorandom]

Bought a 2012 Sonic LT (1.8L) in '13 with 18k mi on it (has about 51k on it now). In '15 my AC suddenly stopped working when driving under ~30 mph, and the engine would overheat while idling. Took it to get it fixed and was told that it looked like a plastic bag or something had gotten into the fan assembly and it wasn't working on the low setting, necessitating a total replace of the fan assembly. Parts and labor was about $400.

Two weeks ago I got rear-ended for about $5200 in damage. Insurance covered it all (since I wasn't at fault), but post-accident the AC mysteriously stopped working at low mph. I let the engine idle and, sure enough, engine overheat. The guys at collision repair took a look at it and said the fan's low-speed setting wasn't working properly, but that they couldn't link it to the accident and thus insurance wouldn't cover it.

I don't want to shell out another $400 and I'm not mechanically savvy enough to feel safe working on my own vehicle. I did some searches online and wondered if maybe it's just a faulty cooling fan resistor; can that be replaced on its own, or do I really need to spring for an entire fan assembly? And am I just really unlucky, or am I going to be paying $400 every two years just to have working AC?

With thanks in advance,
--pr

 

[Stew]

I'll answer this seeing how I just had my whole fan/radiator out... yes, you can indeed replace it by itself if it's the part I'm thinking of. In the upper drivers side corner of the fan assembly there is a decent sized electrical connector, unplug that and remove one 8mm screw and this coil looking thing pulls out of the shroud. I didn't look at it very closely though after I realized I didn't need to remove that part to remove the fan assembly from the radiator.