With hybrid autos, there typically is one element about the vehicle that should have every buyer concerned: the battery. How long will it really last and how much would it cost to replace if it did go belly up?
According to recent testing, the car's battery holds up pretty well. In fact, the model that went through testing had approximately 207,000 miles on the odo. Although a small percentage of its performance was affected, it wasn't significant by any means.
The story even goes on to suggest that batteries can be had for under $3,000 if needing replacement and even as low as $500 if you're willing to look in salvage yards.
This strikes me as peculiar because when I spoke to a New York City taxi driver, who had a Prius cab, he said it was far from excellent and noted that its batteries needed replacement around the 300,000 mile mark. The random cabbie estimated the cost for new batteries upwards of $6,000 smackers and added that most cabbies are having to replace batteries fairly often on hybrid cabs.
So, I'll leave this one up to you, Spies.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- One of the big worries about buying a hybrid car like the Toyota Prius is the possibility that the big, expensive battery pack will have to be replaced after a few thousand miles.
Recent tests and owner surveys by Consumer Reports magazine indicate that Prius owners don't need to worry about that too much...
[Source: CNNMoney]
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