Battery replacement

I currently own a Prius v ( lowercase v for the Prius v wagon) and have been very pleased with it. My truck was recently stolen so I am in the market for another vehicle. I put about 40k miles a year for work, the gas was killing me. I don't need the truck for the work I do, but I do for hauling and towing my ATV's down to WV several times a year. Instead of spending 30k+ on a new truck I was thinking of getting two used vehicles. A Prius and a truck for when I actually need the capacity.

I don't want to spend too much on the Prius as I am very interested in what is coming in the next few years in the electric/PHEV market, specifically the leaf and volt. I would only need something that is going to last a couple years until the market matures a little, (I'm assuming that it will.) Gen 2 used Prius in my area with 50-90k miles are going for around $9k

My question is, do you feel this would be a good value? the only unknown for me at least would be the battery, I wouldn't mind paying to have a battery replaced if it meant another 50k miles or so, but prices seem to be all over the map. I have seen 3k from the dealer all the way down to $850 from a third party.

Any suggestions what you might do in my situation? I would really appreciate any suggestions. Thank you

 

Thanks for the help. I actually thought about renting a truck when needed but when I ran the numbers it just wasn't practical. It would be over $1k a year just for my trips to WV, that's not counting all the times I use the truck for landscaping and side jobs.

As for the battery that sounds reasonable to get another 36 months out of a vehicle. especially with the miles I put on. Maybe I'm overanalyzing this, it's just with cars being such a horrible investment I always try to go in prepared with what will face me down the road.