Hi Doug and welcome to the forum :!:
Did you see this thread :?:
http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... php?t=3814
The one most specific to your concerns is listed as "Rationalizations for Hybrids"( in the link above).
Battery cost is also potentially highly variable since each dealer _can_ adjust the selling price. In my situation the IMA battery cost has come down $800 from 9/02 - 9/04 to around $2100 + installation $200-300.
Overall no real problems except the "new" aspect of being a hybrid and difficulties finding knowledgable service tech's for the rare odd problems. IMO pretty much mainstream in this regard.
Battery service life :?: Highly variable. Warrantied 8 years / 80K miles. And you _will_ see performance degradation as they age which is _NOT_ warrantable. Cost per mile up to the 8/80k IMA battery warranty limit :?: Low, very low. But as some point you'll have to pay back _some_ of the hyper MPG savings for a new IMA pack.
HTH!
