What do I need to replace?

My laptop sustained minor water damage. Everything works fine except for the airport card (not recognised). The Apple store told me that they found liquid residue and that replacing the airport card "probably wouldn't fix the problem" and asked me "if i still wanted to go ahead with it", or i can replace every component with liquid residue costing $1000 (thats a write off as far as im concerned). I feel like i'm being taken for a ride. Should I just try and replace the airport card?