Making bigger financial decisions: Car repair

My AC is out in my car (I live in the south, got the car used last year, everything else about it great), and while I hope it's a cheaper problem I'm feeling out what my upper limit will be before I go to the mechanic. If it's 1.5-2.5K, I'm not sure about springing for it.

I'm putting away as much savings as I can right now (about 1700/month, although I should invest a higher percentage of my salary soon), because I'm still figuring out what I really want to strive for in life, but any of that will take money. I might try to travel for 1-3 months in a year, but I'd want those expenses + moving expenses + an emergency fund, as I job search at the end of that for that to feel even remotely not completely insane. I have 28K in savings right now.

I'm still getting used to actually having money to manage, as I started my first career job about a year ago. On the one hand, I would love AC. On the other, it's a luxury at the end of the day, and I know many my age suck it up with things like that. I'm trying to figure out how to make bigger financial choices, when I can technically afford it but are trying to figure out my priorities and what's actually wise in the bigger picture.