[VBprogrammer]

Living on the outskirts of London it amazes me when I look for an old Prius on autotrader. You often see vehicles which aren't far away from half a million miles. They aren't even being sold for scrap value due to their demand in mini-cab service. It's a shame they didn't make a dent in private usage in the UK because there is a lot to be said for the underlying technology.

[bryanlarsen]

How much of that is because hybrids put an easier load on their engines and how much because Toyota knows how to build a reliable vehicle? It's both, but I imagine it's mostly because of Toyota reliability.

[VBprogrammer]

In fairness a Prius has no clutch, no torque convertor, no starter motor, no sliding dog clutches, no syncos, no turbo etc. It's unfortunate that people understood the Prius system as a normal car plus the electrical motive system but the reality is actually not nearly as complex.