[M2inOR]

I traded in my 2006 Lexus RX400h hybrid a few months ago. Almost 15 years old, and still on the original battery. Dealer gave me $5000 for it, plus other incentives, which I used to buy a 2021 Lexus RX350; its brethren. No problems, but I'm sure they would be coming. It had about 140,000 miles on it.

When we decided to move to Florida 2 years ago, we sold my wife's 2008 Prius with just under 100,000 miles on it. Why? We did not need the car, and we knew were going to eventually have two golf carts.

Did we purchase them both to be green? economical? No.

We purchased them both, new, at sticker price when they first came out because we knew that Lexus and Toyota would NOT let them fail. The price premium over the similar non-hybrid cars would eat up any savings on fuel prices.

Reliability was our goal.

Friend in Oregon has a 2004 Prius, and the very rare battery warning finally lit on the dash; yes, time for a new battery. Nothing else wrong with the car, and he's biting the bullet to replace with a new battery. Installation is complex, and recycling has to be done properly. It doesn't just bolt in under the rear seat.

His rationale is that new and used cars are premium priced these days due to shortages, and his Prius is familiar; it's in otherwise prime condition. Don't worry, he has some fun cars, too in his garage.

We looked at many, many other cars over the years. What's most importance to us, is which car will last the longest for us, and require minimum maintenance. My wife gets upset when I say My 2021 is likely the last car in my lifetime, as I keep them for 15-20 years.