Where to post about Gen 1 Prius

I have a question about my 2002 Prius, but I don't see a Gen 1 forum. I'll put the question below and hopefully get advice or answers.

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I bought a used first generation Prius that had 160K miles on it. A gamble, I realize now, but I LOVE the car and thought it might be immortal. I'm reluctant to say it has been a lemon, but it has had several major breakdowns--one on the freeway. It flashed a scary-looking warning icon (see photo). A few minutes later the screen went dark and the car lost power. We had it towed to the dealer who diagnosed inverter water pump failure. This was a $500 fix. A few weeks later I got this code again and was told that the main battery is dead. The replacement cost (including labor) is about $3500.

So, I am faced with the tough choice of whether to replace the battery and try to eke more life out of this car. As it is, the cooling system is leaking and fixing it so that the AC works would be over $900. I would love to get a second gen Prius, but my budget is limited to about about $14K--which would put me in a vehicle with 80-100K miles--which would mean that I would be facing mid-life maintenance issues all over again. I have heard that second gen Priuses are more reliable, but I am very hesitant to buy another high mileage vehicle. Any ideas? Any experience with replacing the first gen Prius batter? Many thanks.