STS Corvette Forum

ffas23 · Guru

Looking At A C-5 '99 Black 6spd Coupe

vett boy · Guru

Had an 03 and in general I liked the C5 better than the C6 .It's a great smooth ride .The kind of car you get into and want to head from Maine to Florida . (non stop)

A few issues are fairly well know Column Lock issue which should have been a recall .If the car sets very long you'll need a tender or disconnect .That won't happen for awhile .Tires will wear fast and noisy unless you set the camber at zero.

I did have the privilege of working on the production line in Bowling Green 2003 and building my own car .I was there for three days .Cool experience.

Tell us more when ya get it.

ffas23 · Guru

If I pick this car up I probably won't drive it very much and just add it to my collection. I have a hard time finding the time to drive all of my collector cars the ways things are. The price is right on this car and I always wondered what the newer Vettes were like. I know this one is now 11 years old but with only 36k miles it should last me a long time if I buy it. The other thing with this car unlike my '67 and '73 it wouldn't bother me to take it on a long trip if I felt like going in a Vette based on everything I have heard about these cars.

Mr.Muffler · Senior Member

Congratulations on the purchase of your C-5. Hope you enjoy it. You "ARE" The man !!

ffas23 · Guru

Picked up this C-5 today. Very happy with what I saw so I took it home with me. A few scratches here and there to be expected. Leather interior in great shape. Body and Paint also look great. Passed my inspection. If I had to rate this from 1-10 I would say it was a 8 or 9 car for the shape it is in w/36k miles on the OD. Only one problem. The owner had only 1 key and 1 Keyfob. Says he is sure he has them but couldn't find them Sunday morning. He promises to send then to me if he comes across them. In the mean time I have to look at my options of whether to pay the big money for replacements. Any ideas?

vett boy · Guru

No idea on FOBs and I'm willing to bet the owner doesn't look very hard .(could be wrong)

Now as for the car ,I think it looks very good .Never owned a black car but always thought I'd like to .Something I could drive for an hour and detail for six biggrin

.I think you'll put a few more miles on it than you anticipate .Like maybe a "Tail Of The Dragon" run someday wink

ffas23 · Guru

vett boy wrote:

No idea on FOBs and I'm willing to bet the owner doesn't look very hard .(could be wrong)

Now as for the car ,I think it looks very good .Never owned a black car but always thought I'd like to .Something I could drive for an hour and detail for six .I think you'll put a few more miles on it than you anticipate .Like maybe a "Tail Of The Dragon" run someday

Got to agree with you. I shouldn't be afraid to go for a long drive in this car like I may hesitate to do in both my C-2 and C-3 these days.

vett boy · Guru

I had a 69 which I loved for almost 300,000 miles .I took a lot of long trips but I always broke down ,usually 1500 miles from home .I love to drive so thats why I moved up in series .The C5 gives a fantastic ride .I've driven Maine to Florida on just cat naps .

kensmith · Guru

Congratulations on your new C5 Fred! Looks great! Try not to have too much fun with it, ok?

ffas23 · Guru

kensmith wrote:

Congratulations on your new C5 Fred! Looks great! Try not to have too much fun with it, ok?

Thanks Ken. Not new but new to me. Very happy with what I see so far. Wanted to put it on the road today but New Jersey DMV like California is going broke so our DMV is closed on Mondays now I guess in order to save the state some money. I will be down there tomorrow sometime hopefully. Right now I am in the process of putting some Meguires Show Glaze on the car. I like how it works on Black paint being I used some on the Black Stinger section of the hood on my '67 Coupe last year and it looked great. Did the hood, roof and Trunk area on th C-5 so far. No disappointment. The glaze did its job.

-- Edited by ffas23 on Monday 9th of August 2010 08:10:28 PM

kensmith · Guru

I tried Meguires NXT tech wax and didn't like it so I stick with the Gold Class. Easy on, easy off. Then I use their Quick detail to wipe off minor stuff. Also use their scratch-X for any swirl marks or minor scratches. They have great products.

Sebringbill · Veteran Member

Fred,

The key fobs are the same for 97-99. They all have the passive lock slider at the bottom. When active, the car automatically locked or unlocked depending on the proximity of the fob (all customizable by you). 2000 only eliminated the passive lock option but the fob otherwise looked and worked the same. While the keys are harder to get (the chip has to match the lock), the fob can be had used for a reasonable price and is not hard to be "learned" by your car. If your car has the memory option (look on driver's door above p/w switches) then each fob can be trained for a different memory setting.

We've put nearly 80k on our 97 6-spd. While the styling still makes me yawn, the engineering still blows me away, (ie ~31 highway mpg and yet performance that'll twirl the car 180 if you're not careful!).

ffas23 · Guru

Hey Sebring, How are things going? You guys are not going to believe it but I get this email last night from the previous owner and he has found the other key and keyfob and documention. Says he has the original VHS that came with the car also. He said I would be getting a tracking number today and sure enough I got a UPS tracking number and should have it tomorrow. I am a Happy Camper today.

I think I would like to still have a couple of keys made. I see on Ebay new keys can be had for about $10 plus shipping. Problem is there are about 15 keys that are available. You need to use a ohm meter and touch both sides of the metal prong and get a reading. I have a cheap Digital Ohm Meter from Harbor Freight. I am having a hard time getting a reading of Resistor Value In Ohms. The values are from 402 up to 11,800. The chart below tells you what key code to order from 1-15. Does anyone on this forum know how to do this correctly because I don't seem to be doing something right.

How to decode a VATS key.

VATS stands for Vehicle Anti-theft System and is also known as PASS-Key (Personal Automotive Security System). Each VATS key has a resistor embedded within the key-blade, and each resistor has 1 of 15 possible values. Sometimes the resistors are refered to as a Vats Pellet or Vats Chip. Decoding a VATS key is very simple, but it requires that you know how to use an ohm meter. Any multimeter will have an ohm meter and any Radio Shack, Electronic or Hardware Store can sell you one.

How to determine the correct vats code for your car when you lose your vats key

All VATS keys have a resistor embedded in the key blade with metal prongs protruding out of each side of the key blade. In order to read the resistance of the resistor in the key blade, place one lead of the ohm meter on one metal prong, and the other lead on the other metal prong, opposite, on the other side of the key blade. With the leads in there proper position a resistance value can be read from the ohm meter.

Disclaimer: KeyBits Lock & Key or carlocksandkeys.com or anyone associated with the above companies is not responsible for educating the reader of this page on how to properly use a ohm meter. If you send us the wrong vats code, than your new key will not work in your car, and that is entirely your fault. With that said, I hope you find this information helpful. How to decode a VATS key.VATS stands for Vehicle Anti-theft System and is also known as PASS-Key (Personal Automotive Security System). Each VATS key has a resistor embedded within the key-blade, and each resistor has 1 of 15 possible values. Sometimes the resistors are refered to as a Vats Pellet or Vats Chip. Decoding a VATS key is very simple, but it requires that you know how to use an ohm meter. Any multimeter will have an ohm meter and any Radio Shack, Electronic or Hardware Store can sell you one.How to determine the correct vats code for your car when you lose your vats keyAll VATS keys have a resistor embedded in the key blade with metal prongs protruding out of each side of the key blade. In order to read the resistance of the resistor in the key blade, place one lead of the ohm meter on one metal prong, and the other lead on the other metal prong, opposite, on the other side of the key blade. With the leads in there proper position a resistance value can be read from the ohm meter. Once you get your reading, match the resistance value given by your ohm meter to the resistance value, in the right column, in the chart below. The value from your ohm meter will probably not match, exactly, the resistance value in the chart below, but choose the value closest to the value on your ohm meter. The corresponding code number is the identification number of your VATS key. CODERESISTOR VALUE IN OHMS 1402 2523 3681 4887 51130 61470 71870 82370 93010 103740 114750
126040 137500 149530 1511800

Once you get your reading, match the resistance value given by your ohm meter to the resistance value, in the right column, in the chart below. The value from your ohm meter will probably not match, exactly, the resistance value in the chart below, but choose the value closest to the value on your ohm meter. The corresponding code number is the identification number of your VATS key.

	CODE	RESISTOR VALUE IN OHMS
	1	402
	2	523
	3	681
	4	887
	5	1130
	6	1470
	7	1870
	8	2370
	9	3010
	10	3740
	11	4750
	12	6040
	13	7500
	14	9530
	15	11800

-- Edited by ffas23 on Wednesday 11th of August 2010 06:54:47 PM

-- Edited by ffas23 on Sunday 15th of August 2010 02:41:09 PM

ffas23 · Guru

Finally figured out how to take a reading on my digital multi ohms meter of my C-5 Key. It is very easy once you know how. I must of just had the selector at the wrong position on the meter days ago. Anyway I have 2 keys being shipped out to me purchased on Ebay as I figured out which of 15 key possiblities I needed. biggrin

vett boy · Guru

I'm very surprised the previous owner came up with the FOB .It kinda restores a little faith in mankind .

There is also a thread somewhere on another forum "all the things you never knew about C5's " .It was very intreasting and I'll try to find it.

ffas23 · Guru

vett boy wrote:

I'm very surprised the previous owner came up with the FOB .It kinda restores a little faith in mankind .

There is also a thread somewhere on another forum "all the things you never knew about C5's " .It was very intreasting and I'll try to find it.

Tried to use it on the C-5 but the 2nd keyfob didn't work. Brought it inside the house and later on opened it to check on the battery and no battery inside. Also around the pushdowns it looked like the keyfob was dumped in coffee or soda as it was caked up some in that area. Took a handful of cue tips and some alcohol last night and proceeded to do some cleaning. Looks find although the lettering is rubbed well off of the keys. Going out this afternoon to get myself a new battery for it and hopefully once I reprogram it, it will work. It is my understanding that if the battery is disconnected from a keyfob that you have to reprogam it. Am I correct? I will try it before reprogramming to be sure once the new battery is installed.

Sebringbill · Veteran Member

I recall all ya need to do after replacing the battery is stand by the driver's door with the remote, push and hold both the lock & unlock buttons for about 15 secs until the car horn beeps once; poof! All done. If that doesn't work there is a learning procedure outline in the owners manual.