Sorry ahead of time but you've owned your C5 for 18 years, it hits one little snag, and you're considering selling because so many others deal with electrical problems also? That's a little extreme. It's 90s GM. 80s GM had it's issues (fuel injection) and 90s GM has it's issues. 2nd week into ownership of my '99 I had service column lock issues requiring me installing a CLB and fifth week of ownership I was hit with ABS/Traction issues that have been intermittent. Nothing has severely sidelined the car though and honestly a C5 has been one of the most reliable used vehicles I've owned, not to mention one of the easiest vehicles I think I've ever worked on (and I try to do everything myself).

ANY modern "older" vehicle is like this, and will continue to be like this. C6s will have their issues. C7s will have their issues. All the modern cars with parking sensors, reverse cams, and proprietary info-tainment systems will have their issues when they hit 20 years old. It's part of owning an "old" car, and C5s are OOOOLLLLLLDDDDdddddd. Plus why consider selling now? C5s are at their absolute lowest point in private and retail value. Even a '99 with less than 30K miles would have a VERY hard time selling for $12K-$13K + in this current market. If people actually drove their 10,000 mile C5s more the market would begin to adjust.

 

I brought it out of storage ,not a good thing . If hot stored in a heated and cooled storage area going to have problems .. The C-5s need to be driven . I have 85,000 on my 04 Z with no Electoral problems so far . Condensation from sitting is one of the worst things that can happen to any auto ,all car trucks need to be driven if just around the block from time to time ,the parts need to get hot drives the moisture out of them ..

 

I agree the red top may be the problem. They are junk batteries now. Yellow tops are a bit better but optima should be generally avoided. I always get active handling and ABS warnings when I use an optima.

 

C5 needs a surge protector & line conditioner on it

 

Just driving it around the block is not going to get hot enough to burn off the moisture.

 

Right , that was just a saying old school guys say ( need to drive around the block ) What I was saying need to drive the deal and get it hot from time to time keeps them running way better ..

 

I don't know about that. I've been seeing plenty of pre '01 models with less than 30K miles where the sellers are asking $17k-$18K...now whether or not they're selling for that much, I don't know, but apparently a lot of sellers seem to think these cars are worth a lot more than $12K or $13k...

 

I got my C-5, back when they were having leaking issues with the OE battery. When my C-5 was two years old, in '03, I installed an Optima red top. I simply replace them every 5 years, no questions.....


But in the OP's situation, a LONG storage, most likely killed the battery, which is most likely the cause of his issues.

 

Mine also, Knock on wood!!

 

erER ah it's a 20 year old car. Some of the electronics where kinda experimental at the time and manufactured in Mexico or Canada. Most of the failures will not stop the car from going down the road. Active handling, for instance, I unplugged the Steering Wheel Sensor to keep it from doing crazy stuff. That's why they put RESET button on dash. A good tuner can program out most of the crazy stuff. Drive and have fun

 

If your idea of maintenance is changing out a 10 year old battery, you have a another thing coming. Sell the car and get an Uber app.

 

They say, "drive em like you stole them". Garage queens have their problems if not kept up....maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.

 

AND, I've NEVER seen a car battery last 10 years!!

 

Me either and I had many many batteries to maintain off shore LA not counting Truck/Car/Motorcycle/lawnmower at home.

 

I was running into some weird glitches every now and then, and I did two things:

1. Got a new 1000 CA Interstate Battery, and keep it in on a Battery Tender.

2. Cleaned the various grounds in the engine compartment.

This really helped to settle things down. I think I ran into maybe one or two strange things on start up that went away on ignition cycle the entire 2017 season. Helped alot.

 

I have, my yellow top lasted over 10 years. She was in my 02 which is not driven allot and is on a battery tender most of the time.

 

Yep, ever since Interstate bought them they have been ****. I was going through one every 6 months in my mustang and it had nothing but a wideband and gauges for electronics and a mini starter. My diesel killed a yellow top in about 3 weeks.

My old man has two pre interstate blue top optimas in his boat that are about 12 years old and still start his boat no problem.

 

Johnson Controls owns them not Interstate (although JC does manufacture some batteries for Interstate), and much like all other JC batteries, they suck.