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Hybrids

Sorry but I am not a hybrid owner but have friends who own a Prius and of course rave about it. I am not convinced that our meagre 6,000 miles a year warrants the extra expense of a diesel car let alone a hybrid.

BUT on the subject of Prius batteries if you look at their life expectancy in the USA they are warranted for at least 8 years or 100,000 miles and this is a full replacement warranty and not pro-rated. In California the warranty is 10 years.

To quote from this article "Average life span? no one really knows. There just hasn't been enough of them failing for us to tell you how long they'll last. (It is still a rare occurrence, even for the US Prius which have been out for almost 9 years now, with many over 200,000 miles without any hybrid battery issues...)"

My little car is very economical on petrol and so I don't think I will be interested for the next several years. Maybe by then I will be brown bread and even less interested. But if I were younger I would certainly be looking at them and likely to buy one. If the battery life is good for 100,000 miles then I would think that is plenty. I suspect you could then replace it with a new battery or even a new engine. Not many people keep a car that long anyway, do they?

Fruit Bat. I agree there needs to be more space if you are carrying children. But none the less it is a surprisingly spacious car. Ideal for two. I can't reach the passenger door when sitting in the driver's seat without reaching over. If I sit upright and put out my left arm I still have about three inches or more to go to touch the door. The seats are comfy as can be and what's more mine are heated when needed. When I am washing the car, I can only just reach the radio aerial on the roof from the side, so it is a fair size and has lots of boot space, You could carry two passengers in the back but I think that might be o.k. on a short journey but not very comfy on a long one. Of course with the back seat down there is loads of room for golf clubs etc.