Talk about annoying, I have a dead leaf stuck in my Prius bumper crevice. When I tried to get it out, the thing just fell into the bumper crevice, and now there may not be a way to get it out but to remove the entire rear bumper! Anybody have recommendations of what I should do? Or should I just leave it be? Will the leaf decompose/disintegrate after a while?
I had a funny "leaf" incident. Last week while driving over 40 mph, I was getting an annoying buzzing/fluttering noise. I had the windshield replaced a few weeks earlier and was concerned that the windshield was not sealed properly. A maple leaf seed, the kind that look like little helicopters when they fall off the tree, was lodged between the bottom edge of the glass and the A pillar. I had to pull it out with tweezers. Noise gone! It was making me crazy for 2 days. Have to remember to vacuum or hose the leaves out from the base of the windshield and wipers. I wouldn't worry too much about the leave in the bumper crevice.
The leaf is NEVER dead, until it is entirely gone. When it turns brown, the photosynthetic systems within the leaf stop functioning. Then, other mold and microorganisms are ALIVE on the leaf to cause it to decay. Death occurs when every remnant of the leaf is gone.
We tend to get pine needles building up behind the air foil on the hatch. I'll pick out what I can with tweezers, hit it with high pressure water when washing, and leaf blower when drying. You can also use a thin strip of cloth and "floss" some zones. Other than that, not much you can, short of disassembly. One place to check periodically: the hatch gasket, it can accumulate stuff. Be careful: it has some sort of black tacky adhesive in places.
