Used Cars: Prius, toyota corolla, engine cars

Question
I am in the market for a used car and hybrid cars, like Prius, are beginning to hit the used car market. I've never considered buying one before. Are there things I will want to be aware of when buying a hybrid, for instance the battery is larger on these cars?
Looking for some general advice and am budgeting $10,000 for my used car purchase.

Answer
Let me preface this with saying that it has been about 4 years since I sold hybrids.  But here is what I know, the electrical system IE: battery and electric motor assist, which assist the gas engine under certain circumstances, is really expensive.  Just from what I have heard, and my own personal experiences with driving them, I would just soon go with a Honda Civic or a  Toyota Corolla, or comparable small gas engine cars.  You just dont have the performance of a gas engine with the hybrid, and from what I have heard the only real difference on gas mileage is on the highway, just not enough for me to justify buying an expensive to fix hybrid.  And the newer hybrids may be different, but the newer hybrids wont be in that $10,000 range either.  So if it were I, I would not buy a hybrid.  Hope this is helpful.