Black Stiffening Plate

wow, looks like the same pics of the BT plate, I wonder what the differences are. For half the price, it looks like it might be a good deal...

 

It's probably some guy selling a used BT plate or perhaps one that was purchased and never installed. He doesn't list multiple quantities, and his history of stuff for sale looks miscellaneous.

 

the guy is selling 15 of 'em.... he's definitely manufacturing 'em or has a friend doing the work...

 

The pictures this guy posted was taken off of the Prius Chat online store. All of our BT Tech stiffening plates that were manufactured from October 2005 until now have had several design changes. The picture that this person posted was of our first revision as you can tell that the reliefs were cut manually and not by the CNC. Also, you can see that the reliefs were not anodized as inidcated in his picture. In other words, what he is posting is a direct copy off of the Prius Chat online store.

Even his description of the product was copied from the PC store...

 

you're right. sorry, i stand corrected. didn't notice the multiple quantities. i wonder what they really look like.

 

I wouldn't buy it since if the guy can't even bother to post up actual pictures of the part he's selling or write up his own description of the part, well...

BT Tech, you should be able to report the auction to eBay for violating copyright of your images and get it shut down.

 

I emailed the guy to find out more, since it is a good price I wanted to see what he had to say:

"[FONT=arial,sans-serif]I make the plates in my machine shop. I build NHRA race cars engines and when I seen these things selling for $160 I new I could do them for less. I won a prius and have seen a lot of these simple to make items selling for way to much. I just do not like seeing people getting taken advantage of over soemthing this simple. Yes it uses the factory holes. Yes this is the one you will be getting. It is X braced and black in color. I could do a polished aluminum if you wanted but black is easier. Mine is half the price b/c there is not middle man. I buy the Aluminum in bulk and make them myself. It does't take long on a my machine, but if you want me to raise my price to ease your mind I have no problem with that either."

SO, I emailed him back to get actual pics of the plate he makes OFF the car. Waiting to see if he replies or not. Not trying to knock the BT plate, but if its "almost" as good, but half the price why not give it a try. I was planning on getting the BT brace this next month, but might give this a shot if it's legit.. [/FONT]

 

Gee, I think I would hesitate on buying a precision-tooled part from someone that can't type.
Maybe I'm just a snob... I have a REAL BT Plate

 

Hi All,

The fraud and disastifaction reporting methods on EBAY are so corrupt (better word somebody?) that I will not buy anything on there that is under $100 unless the vendor has better than 99.5 % satisfaction. This guy has 98.2%. He has to be a rip-off artist in my opinion. A 98.2% EBAY rating in my opinion is equivalent to 2 % satisfaction of actual customers.

EBAY gets paid by the sellers, and they are loathe to be accurate about a poor vendor.

 

personally, 98% is pretty good feedback. Anyhow, like i said before .. he probably making it himself. If he knows the dimension all he has to do is write one program and drop the aluminum block in and just hit start. It is relatively easy to make things like this. If you think about it's it's really a big block with couple of holes in it. There's no welding required either...

 

seller ended the listing..

 

think about it if he was posting PriusChat pics its a little questionable... about feedback.. its a percentage... it depends on the number of people saying he is good or bad.. 98% is not bad but just by looking at the pics makes me wonder,,,

I have BT's and no complains...

 

I actually inquired about this part myself. Here was the response I received.

Yes this is the plate. I build NHRA race car engines so doing there same design on my machines was easy. Really it doesn't even need to be X braced but to cut down on weight I left it the same. I can make them in black or leave them bare aluminum. The dimensions are about 4" wide 1/2 thick and 14" long. The bolt holes are sunk so that the bolt heads are flush. Theres really no such thing as a BT plate. There all made out of the same type of aluminum and machined on a machine. You can call them whatever you want but the product is the same. A wooded chair is still a wooden chair no matter who makes it. Well maybe it would be a cheap wooded chair if it was made in China...haha.

I have only made mine to start with for my car. I have a bunch of emails to answer on them but once I get some orders for them I will take some more pictures and put them in my ad and send you some.

I too have been considering this part, but the $165 price seems a little steep for this...?

 

The BT Plate isn't just a hunk of aluminum, machined and then painted black.
Aluminum will corrode, you know. Paint chips off.

This guy obviously doesn't understand what trademarks, service marks, and product names mean, if he thinks that "BT" is a type of plate. geeez. If he keeps using the name "BT plate" he could find himself in serious legal difficulties.

Like a said. Rather less than completely bright. Maybe he can make a nice little stiffener bar for his own Prius. That's nice. Goody for him. I'm not going to play into his little fantasy, however.

 

any updates on this?

 

There is a thread on the BT Plate where it is explained the process... some sort of electroplating, I'm sure. Anyway, it is finished in such a way that the plating does not come off, and so the plate does not oxidize.