Sometimes the car starts up just fine on the first try, other times it takes anywhere between 3-10 tries before it starts up. All I get is a click. When it does finally start, it fires up just fine. No hesitation or anything.

When I turn the key to on, the security light comes on but goes off after about 5 seconds so I don't think it's a VATS issue.

I was thinking starter, but every other time I've seen a starter go out, you might get 1-2 more times of actually starting before it craps out completely. This has been going on for a few weeks now.

I already have a starter that hasn't been put on yet, I just wanted to see if it could be anything else before I started.

95 z28, if it matters.

 

Check the connections at the starter. I had the same issue. Turned out the small wire on the starter was not connected well. It had one small spot fused to the starter. The nut that held it on had gotten so hot that the nut was pretty much fused on there. I broke the stud when I took it out. So I soldered it back up and it worked perfectly but did hold. So it cost me like 200 bucks.