to dracotrapnet
Not true! Ive had fords for the past 20 years ranging from fiesta, escort, sierra, ka, mondeo, focus and now an smax. *all* of them died of high mileage and since im self employed claiming 60k via my umbrella company the ones in the past 10 years have had some fair use. The SMax has already put on 80k in just short of 2 years without skipping a beat and the focus before it was sold on ebay at 215k (for £500 too!)
Granted the mondeo and focuse needed suspension bushes at 120k, the focus needed a new maf sensor and throttle body assembly but that is all (apart from maintenance parts).
All cars can be lemons but with a bit of maintenance and not getting the arse ragged off them they will survive. I very much DOUBT that batteries will be 80% capacity for 10 years in the sort of use that a car will need them for. Sure you can get nicads that (if looked after) will do so but not LI batteries. They self consume dont they? Hence even STORING them degrades performance!