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I have seen several posts suggesting to post your VIN. Is this safe? Could anyone do something nefarious with this information or am I just being paranoid?
It has been suggested that some unscrupulous person could take your vin number to a dealership and have a duplicate key made and at a later time simply drive off in your Vette. They would need the number, to know where your car is parked at some point and access to it.
Quite frankly, they can do the same thing if they see a car parked somewhere, they can read it right off the car and have a key made. If someone wants a car bad enough they will find a way to get. I'm sure that there may be other reasons but this is the most popular one I've heard.
Quite frankly, they can do the same thing if they see a car parked somewhere, they can read it right off the car and have a key made. If someone wants a car bad enough they will find a way to get.
I have seen several posts suggesting to post your VIN. Is this safe? Could anyone do something nefarious with this information or am I just being paranoid?
Is it really that easy to take a car? Just walk up to my driveway - get the VIN# - and then have a key made?
If so why aren't more cars stolen each day?
I don't know. If you get the VIN, you are likely to be able to get a key. If you get a key, you are likely to be able to get the car. Honestly, I think you need to have a certain level of cohones to go to a dealer, present yourself as someone else, order a key (which will take some time) and then come back and drive it away. I hope that most dealerships will try to obtain some proof of ownership as well but who knows. I've never actually tried it to see how easy it is. This might be a good question for one of our forum dealers to answer from their point of view.
You can slide a thin slip of black paper or plastic down between your dash and your windshield to cover your vin number and feel alot safer if you are worried about someone getting your vin. Just be sure the paper is long enough so you can remove it when you need to. I covered my VIN in my C4 but haven't done so in my C5 yet.
From: Out Where the Buses Don't Run, Eglin AFB/ Niceville FL
2025 C8 Z06/7/E-Ray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 Corvette of the Year Finalist -- Modified
2021 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
2020 C7 of the Year Finalist -- Modified
2020 C6 of the Year Finalist - Modified
If the C5 key is like the C4 you would need to get 10 keys made to cover the 10 resistance values in the key pellets. I think that would raise a red flag of suspicion.
I have seen several posts suggesting to post your VIN. Is this safe? Could anyone do something nefarious with this information or am I just being paranoid?
I don't know if they could do something nefarious but they can do something bad.
I think it's highly unlikely someone would try and get a key made by writing down the VIN number and then going to a dealer. Is it possible, sure it is. Is it likely, no. Remember this, our cars don't melt when rain hits them and they all carry insurance. Let's find someone else to worry about. Hey, that's not an invitation to post more Corvette-related things to worry about!
You guys seem to forget that even if you could get a dealer to make you a key without the proper owner credentials. Once you have the key cut now a tech needs to program it to the vehicle, with out that, the best they could do is enter the car but couldn't start it up.
I went to a dealership to get a set of keys made for one of our company cars, I had to provide my drivers license and vehicle registration.
BTW- they made a photocopy of the DL.
Okay so I am paranoid. I forgot to take my meds this morning.
I really wasn't thinking of someone making a key from the VIN, but rather that with that info available on the web it could be used to stick some false info on Car-Fax or be used as a fake VIN on a stolen Vette part or something weird like that.
Would you post your SSN and mothers maiden name? I think not.
My Vette's are my babies, and I am just protecting them like a good parent should.