[onewhippedpuppy]

Denis, at this time I doubt there are aftermarket batteries available for the hybrid. Your Blackberry is one of hundreds of thousands, if not millions on the market. That's a lot bigger potential market for a battery maker. As the Prius ages, it might make business sense unless they are particularly expensive to produce.

Chuck, I'm suprised your neighbor is having to foot the bill. This is happening more and more as the older Prius (Priui?) grow in miles. But every case I've heard of has been covered under "good faith" by Toyota.

Personally, I don't see how it's that big of a deal. A large repair on a 150k car isn't rare, unless it's Japanese. Definitely not the high standards expected of Toyota. I think hybrids are cool from a tech standpoint, but you can't deny that they are far more complicated than an ordinary car. Their MPG is great, but once you consider the mark-up, it's hard to make the ROI work out. Especially considering that a $15k Civic or Mazda3 can get 35 MPG highway.

My biggest dislike is the "image" associated with the car, and the fact that many people buy simply for that reason. Self-rightous people annoy me. I'm a much bigger fan of the subtle hybrids, like Hugh's Camry. As Denis said, anything that gets people out of their monster SUVs is a plus. I think the technology will continue to evolve, but at the core it's a gap-filler until true alternative fuels come online.