I read the Consumer Reports article and watched the video. It really has me worried because so many people are now under the impression that the Karma is a POS. I saw comments from people on the CR article that have me worried about the resale value, long term viability, and stability.
Public opinion matters. It doesn't matter if someone can afford a Karma; it's what they tell their neighbors, friends, and colleagues about what they read.
It's very hard to get back bad PR. Once your goodwill is trashed, it might cost 10 times the money to get it back; if you ever really can.
What if each person who reads the article tells 3 people, then each of those people tell 3 people, etc. and then pretty soon the Karma could be branded as a "bad car." It might not matter if Fisker gets things fixed in the near future because it might be too late.
I didn't buy the car to lose $100k of my hard earned cash. I don't mind losing some normal depreciation, but we might be driving something that has very poor resale in 3 to 5 years.
Think about this: A Mercedes SL55 retains about 77% of its resale value at 3 years. At the other end of the field is the ugly, but reliable, Pontiac Aztec which only retained 28% of its value---and it was backed by a large corporation with hundreds of dealers.
If my Karma is worth 28% of its value in the 3 years($30,800), I'll have lost $79,200. That's not acceptable to any luxury car buyer. There is a chance, even if its a slim one, that we could see this happen. It could even be worse if Fisker tanks, which I think many buyers are saying is highly unlikely. I'm one of them who think they can make it if they get their act together.
What are your thoughts?
Here's some of the comments that really worry me from this article:
"Consumer Reports Finds Trove Of Unhappy Karma Owners"
"The Fisker, $108,000 and falling apart."
"CR says the touchscreen is also less than ideal, with a grayscale look and plenty of menu flipping that "makes MyFord Touch (which CR has roundly criticized) look like a brilliant design."
"I am not sure there is a bright future for small start-up car companies..."
"Yes, this car is a bust..." (comment made by a eco-green supporter)
"What an expensive piece of sheeeet !"
"Another failing "Green" company given millions of taxpayer dollars by the failing Obummer administration"
"Another waste of American taxpayer money on a foreign pile of crap, glad to see the cheaper pile is at least made in the USA,..."
"So it costs $108,000 and it's a POS"
"The guy who owned it was pacing around on the phone and when I asked him about it he told me he was waiting for a flatbed towtruck as the car wouldn't start." (a person who saw one at his gym)
"a $100,000 car that does not run properly is unacceptable, it's a 100k lemon!"
"The company will be bankrupt before the year is out, and would no doubt already be out of business without taxpayer money."
"Can you spell expensive junk?"
"This is the type of low quality items that your tax dollars supported."
"Can you say Edsel?"
"Based upon CR's evaluation, I can't imagin anyone spending money on this car."
OK, I'll stop----you all get the point.
This is crazy. What bothers me the most is that everything CR wrote is pretty dead on true. Fisker released the car with bugs. Now WE'RE the one's who might be paying for their mistakes.
I love my Karma, but it has way too many issues and I would never accept this poor of quality if it weren't so nice to drive when it works right. I hope 6.15 fixes a lot of things because I love my Karma. If it doesn't, I hope it fixes most of the issues. Then maybe they can get working on 6.16 to address any remaining issues and fix the features we expect to work.
When I got my first Karma it seemed like every mile I put on it was to and from the dealership for service. The new one has not been back to the dealer, so I'm much happier. But I spent a lot of time, money, and energy driving 50 miles back and forth to the dealership. Not many high-end buyers will tollerate that for long; including me.
Besides the poor quality, they missed the boat on so many features that are standard in much cheaper sedans. Sometimes I feel like the Karma is stuck in pre-iPad days.
Why are there no rear seat a/c outlets? My kids get too hot or too cold riding in the back!
Where's the hard drive to store MP3's on? (MB's S-class comes with 7 gigs)
Where's the CD-DVD player?
How do I install DVD's into the headrests without cutting up the seats?
Why is the navigation so hard to use and so small to look at?
Where's a place to plug in a cell phone or radar detector up front?
What's up with the miniature cup holders?
Why do I have to press several areas on a screen just to change the temperature?
How do I use the steering wheel controls at night if they aren't lite?
Why can't I see the tire pressures on the command screen?
Not to mention options that are available in most luxury cars are completely missing from the Karma:
Distronic (MB's speed control that reads the car in front of you to figure out the speed)
Pre-safe (MB's braking system that detects when a driver is trying to avoid a collision and it applies full braking instead of letting the driver hit something.)
Blind spot warning
Rear door shades
Read window shade
Cooled seats
Heated steering wheel
Front seat, split screen DVD player(MB's newest system)
I can live without all the features, but I can't live with poor resale and poor quality. I hope this gets resolved soon and Fisker is able to put out some good press and get some much needed independent reviews done.
Anyone else getting worried? Or am I just over reacting?
Thanks!
- Bill
Public opinion matters. It doesn't matter if someone can afford a Karma; it's what they tell their neighbors, friends, and colleagues about what they read.
It's very hard to get back bad PR. Once your goodwill is trashed, it might cost 10 times the money to get it back; if you ever really can.
What if each person who reads the article tells 3 people, then each of those people tell 3 people, etc. and then pretty soon the Karma could be branded as a "bad car." It might not matter if Fisker gets things fixed in the near future because it might be too late.
I didn't buy the car to lose $100k of my hard earned cash. I don't mind losing some normal depreciation, but we might be driving something that has very poor resale in 3 to 5 years.
Think about this: A Mercedes SL55 retains about 77% of its resale value at 3 years. At the other end of the field is the ugly, but reliable, Pontiac Aztec which only retained 28% of its value---and it was backed by a large corporation with hundreds of dealers.
If my Karma is worth 28% of its value in the 3 years($30,800), I'll have lost $79,200. That's not acceptable to any luxury car buyer. There is a chance, even if its a slim one, that we could see this happen. It could even be worse if Fisker tanks, which I think many buyers are saying is highly unlikely. I'm one of them who think they can make it if they get their act together.
What are your thoughts?
Here's some of the comments that really worry me from this article:
"Consumer Reports Finds Trove Of Unhappy Karma Owners"
"The Fisker, $108,000 and falling apart."
"CR says the touchscreen is also less than ideal, with a grayscale look and plenty of menu flipping that "makes MyFord Touch (which CR has roundly criticized) look like a brilliant design."
"I am not sure there is a bright future for small start-up car companies..."
"Yes, this car is a bust..." (comment made by a eco-green supporter)
"What an expensive piece of sheeeet !"
"Another failing "Green" company given millions of taxpayer dollars by the failing Obummer administration"
"Another waste of American taxpayer money on a foreign pile of crap, glad to see the cheaper pile is at least made in the USA,..."
"So it costs $108,000 and it's a POS"
"The guy who owned it was pacing around on the phone and when I asked him about it he told me he was waiting for a flatbed towtruck as the car wouldn't start." (a person who saw one at his gym)
"a $100,000 car that does not run properly is unacceptable, it's a 100k lemon!"
"The company will be bankrupt before the year is out, and would no doubt already be out of business without taxpayer money."
"Can you spell expensive junk?"
"This is the type of low quality items that your tax dollars supported."
"Can you say Edsel?"
"Based upon CR's evaluation, I can't imagin anyone spending money on this car."
OK, I'll stop----you all get the point.
This is crazy. What bothers me the most is that everything CR wrote is pretty dead on true. Fisker released the car with bugs. Now WE'RE the one's who might be paying for their mistakes.
I love my Karma, but it has way too many issues and I would never accept this poor of quality if it weren't so nice to drive when it works right. I hope 6.15 fixes a lot of things because I love my Karma. If it doesn't, I hope it fixes most of the issues. Then maybe they can get working on 6.16 to address any remaining issues and fix the features we expect to work.
When I got my first Karma it seemed like every mile I put on it was to and from the dealership for service. The new one has not been back to the dealer, so I'm much happier. But I spent a lot of time, money, and energy driving 50 miles back and forth to the dealership. Not many high-end buyers will tollerate that for long; including me.
Besides the poor quality, they missed the boat on so many features that are standard in much cheaper sedans. Sometimes I feel like the Karma is stuck in pre-iPad days.
Why are there no rear seat a/c outlets? My kids get too hot or too cold riding in the back!
Where's the hard drive to store MP3's on? (MB's S-class comes with 7 gigs)
Where's the CD-DVD player?
How do I install DVD's into the headrests without cutting up the seats?
Why is the navigation so hard to use and so small to look at?
Where's a place to plug in a cell phone or radar detector up front?
What's up with the miniature cup holders?
Why do I have to press several areas on a screen just to change the temperature?
How do I use the steering wheel controls at night if they aren't lite?
Why can't I see the tire pressures on the command screen?
Not to mention options that are available in most luxury cars are completely missing from the Karma:
Distronic (MB's speed control that reads the car in front of you to figure out the speed)
Pre-safe (MB's braking system that detects when a driver is trying to avoid a collision and it applies full braking instead of letting the driver hit something.)
Blind spot warning
Rear door shades
Read window shade
Cooled seats
Heated steering wheel
Front seat, split screen DVD player(MB's newest system)
I can live without all the features, but I can't live with poor resale and poor quality. I hope this gets resolved soon and Fisker is able to put out some good press and get some much needed independent reviews done.
Anyone else getting worried? Or am I just over reacting?
Thanks!
- Bill
