I knew about the big price tag but I expected it to come down. Are newer hybrid cars the same? I heard the newer ones were cheaper to replace. One of the reason of swapping the engine was to not deal with hybrid batteries haha.
i hear you bro - having to maintain the battery is a pain. I'm not a huge hybrid fan so I can't really tell you much. My only opinion is if you're going to k-swap a CRZ, you're better off doing it on a different platform like a Honda EK or EG or EF hatchback or just get a FD2R cuz you're gonna spend a shit ton of money swapping the K20 into a CRZ and making half the electronics not work anymore in a gadget loaded CRZ is sort of a shame.
I remember when i drove the CRZ manual around, one of the things i liked the most was the lights and bling. Very futuristic and the cocoon feel of sitting in the car. I just wasn't a fan of the slow acceleration. But then again I drive a Myvi most of the time so who am I to complain about slow.
Oh btw the Toyota hybrid system imho is better than the Honda one for one reason - the aircon runs on electricity whereas the Hondas one doesn't. So everytime you stop at a traffic light with the stop-start system on the aircon goes warm. Toyotas doesn't. hahaha