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I'm thinking of replacing my Honda Legend with a Toyota Prius - but how long will the Prius' batteries last?

I own two Honda cars which, at 18 years old, are now coming to the end of their economic lives. So I now need a new or secondhand car to replace one of them - probably the Legend. The other is a 1.6i Civic. My thoughts are that I should go for a Toyota Prius (not sure which model), one or two years old; but I am concerned about life of the battery. As you can see I have tried to keep my cars until they are no longer usable and wonder how long the batteries on a Prius will last before needing replacement. Is there any encouraging news on this front?

Asked on 8 November 2010 by MM, via email

Answered by Honest John
Doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. There was a 10-year-old Prius on the FutureCar Brighton to London run in November. Toyota warrants the battery for eight years and Mk II Prius are regularly achieving 400,000 miles with little or no trouble in the hands of taxi operators.
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