Evening.

Firstly, I apologise if this question has already been asked. Secondly, I know very little about cars, so I apologise if this question is a stupid one.

I'm looking to buy my first car at the grand old age of 41. As previously mentioned, my knowledge of cars is very low. I want a car to be able to explore the UK and beyond, with my wife and two daughters. I hear a lot from people about them having to constantly pay out for repairs, or horror stories of being broken down hundreds of miles from home, so obviously I want something reliable.

After googling away for a few hours it seems that Toyota's are known for their reliability, so I told myself I'd get a Toyota. It's for my family so no Yaris's or Aygo's. After looking on Money Saving Expert, they say that although there is an expensive up front cost, hybrids are cheap to run. So now I know which model Toyota I'll get, the Prius (Corrolla hybrids are too expensive for me).

When I tell a few people about what I'm looking for I'm being told to steer away from hybrids because the batteries will end up needing to be replaced and your looking at thousands of pounds to replace them. That's thrown a right curveball at me as I was quite chuffed looking at Auto Express and finding a 2008 Prius for just under £6k, but apparently I'll be paying out for a battery.

So my questions to you guys are, how likely is it that the battery will die? Is this a common occurence in hybrids? more importantly is this a common occurence in Toyota's hybrids? will purchasing a Prius with full service history make any difference to the length of battery life (i suspect not, but again, I'm by no means an expert).

Apologies for the long post, and thank you in advance for any replies.