Dead fuser after 4700 prints?

I have a 3110CN that tosses a "reseat fuser" error on startup and although I've reseated the fuser a dozen times, the error continues.  I have printed 4700 pages to this printer over its entire life, but I've had it for 5 years (I'm a light user).  Any thoughts?  I'm reluctant to spend $300 on a replacement fuser when I can buy a replacement printer for the same $ amount, and I'm not sure that will even fix the issue...