We bought our Prius I a couple of months ago at 30k mi. Now at 34k I wanted to check out the brakes (and rotate tires). The parts were all in like-new condition as far as wear goes, but they sure did need attention. The slide mechanisms were almost frozen stiff and the S.S. clips that the pads slide on had a lot of rust and road grime keeping the pads from moving around. The bottom clips were especially bad. I really had to pull hard on the sliders to get them out of the caliper brackets...pretty rusty just inside the boots. I cleaned everything on the wire wheel and with a wire brush, brushed on a little anti-seize between the S.S. bearing surfaces and the caliper bracket before putting them back in place. Cleaned out the hole and applied silicone grease to make a new home for the sliders. Everything works like new now. It took a couple of hours, and I think this should be a once-a-year job for me. The car was a lease turn-in from Jersey, and now it lives with me in NW Pa. The weather here is pretty hard on these parts.
BTW, everything you see when you pull the wheel off is exactly what you see on any normal car. There are no regen-brake components in the wheelwell as far as I can see. So don't be afraid of screwing things up by doing what I did.
You're correct. Regen happens under the hood, not at the wheels. Also, I think the Prius only regen from one wheel or maybe two. Definitely not from back wheels.
