[plugitin]

If CR had updated their car on Fisker's Software (6.28), which they did not, then you would not have these "intermittent glitches related to gauges, power windows, warning lights, and the radio" Moreover Fisker now has a more responsive touch screen since the version CR tested. I agree..its a bit convoluted, but future models will be more user friendly.

No this big ticket car is not a limo. Most of us buyer we're not in the market for a limo when we visited our Fisker dealer to buy our Karma's. Visibility is actually very good. Not Mini Van visibility and room...but very good none the less.

Sacrificing t0o much function for fashion. Not so. I prefer the function of getting my 65 MPGe to 150 MPGe ANYDAY over the alternatives. Plus. I'm a member of a family of 4. It works just fine. Moreover, I don't take my kids to work. Usually just me or clients during the day.

Again...I'm not scratching my head asking myself - How am I going to fit 6 in the Karma!? Did not buy it for that number.


Let's HIGHLIGHT the POSITIVES for a moment, as we should not confuse our future owners. I don't want anyone to be drowned out in the hideous headline of the CR report.

Before, I do...Let's all take a second. Can we all agree that the Media (Political and Otherwise) is such BS...!? They just want to tear good things and good people apart. Future Fisker buyer...Go talk to an owner and your dealer before you even put any stock in the negative headlines of Fisker Automotive. I can tell you this with certainty. 95% of the negatives of what you read re: Fisker is distorted and/or untrue. Owner's love their cars and Fisker takes care of them.

Ok...Back to the FACTS or POSITIVES.

* The car is Simply Stunning!
* You can keep on driving when the battery pack is depleated.
* Strong Acceleration.
* Great Ride
* Great Handling
* Great Breaking Performance
* Great or Fist Class Interior / Materials
* Great overall Gas Milage

Folks - Look what CR is doing to the iPhone 5 Right now. They are TRASHING Apple's Maps. Much like Apple, Fisker will continue to fix these "glitches" w/ Software Updates. Remember - CR did not even recommend getting an iPhone before the 4S.

So Everyone - I RECOMMEND you don't put too much weight into what CR has do say about the Fisker Karma as it relates to the glitches. Fisker has and will continue to improve in vast order.

Fisker is selling Karma's a at decent pace. I imagine sales will escalate after the election and there after. The Karma's run fantastic. Glitches are a thing of the past. It is the best looking car on the road today IMO. We are changing the world's perception of drivetrains and how they are driven. Fisker will continue to grow and polish the brand and numbers will increase.

Remember - We are a family of believers !

 

[svp6]

Do you know for a fact they did not upgrade the software? I did not see it in the CR report, but they mentioned several trips to the dealer before the 5000 mi mark. I would imagine the dealer did update the software, especially with such a high-profile car...

Agree that CR is not the best way to decide on your luxury car purchase, but I would not dismiss them as being ill-intended or misleading. The fact is that the car has glitches, and you will have to learn the automotive equivalent of Ctrl-Alt-Del if you want to drive an otherwise gorgeous vehicle. It is a personal choice.

I am eagerly awaiting 2013 models, hopefully Fisker will be a little more reliable. Until then I stay with my current car that requires only pushing the start/stop button.

 

[dennis]

I have been a happy Fisker Karma owner for 9 months and 6300 miles. There is NO other luxury sedan in the marketplace I would rather be driving.

I have owned numerous BMW, Mercedes and Lexus vehicles. All of those vehicles had glitches and problems which were eventually rectified by the dealer or the manufacturer. This was especially true for my "early adopter" purchases: 1988 BMW 750iL, 2000 BMW M5, 2006 BMW M5, 2008 Lexus 600hL. Fisker has been as/more responsive as the larger brands in fixing any issues I have encountered with my Karma.

None of those manufacturers offer a vehicle that provides the Karma's unique combination of styling, handling, performance, electric drive smoothness and amazing fuel economy. I'll gladly live with the current sub-standard user interface for the Command Center - it is software that is being improved by Fisker. But it is impossible to retrofit a PHEV drivetrain into a BMW/Mercedes/Lexus luxury sedan.

Maybe this explains why I have never consulted Consumer Reports when making a car purchase. Road & Track, Car and Driver, Automobile, Top Gear, Motor Trend, etc. - yes. Consumer Reports - never.

 

[EVer1]

P.S. Some of us have had reliability issues, others of us none at all. "Reliability" is not a hallmark of the first release of any product much less the first release of a new brand. I'm surprised that Consumer Reports didn't mention that to begin with and skip the discourse. I don't think it could have been a surprise to them.

As for roominess, my tall sons much prefer to ride in the back seat of the Karma to the back seat of any of our other vehicles, including the mini-van like SUV that seats 7. The 4 Karma seats allow my entire family to ride in comfort. It has become our vehicle of choice when we are traveling together. My 16 year old continues to beg to drive it, and his tall friends all want to ride with him.

As for visibility, the Karma has the best visibility with it's fantastic side mirrors combined with rearview mirror and rear camera of any car I've driven. Please, dear CR reader, don't judge the Karma on one mirror alone any more than you would visibility with any other car.

Lastly dear reader, does environmental consciousness weigh on your decision making process? If so, since CR didn't measure it, you may want to look into the value of 35-50 of your miles between charges being all electric, without restricting you to electric driving only. (My personal MPG is more than 170 mpg.) You might also want to observe the paint, which was designed to be environmentally friendly, in the sunlight. To my eye, and those of the many admirers who gather round the car at almost every public parking lot my Karma visits, it is stunning. As this is just a post script, if you are interested, visit your nearest Karma dealer and judge for yourself.

 

[svp6]

It is encouraging that some of the owners have not had reliability issues. However, from what I read on this forum this is perhaps a little overstated - usually it translates into "I had no problems since the upgrade", or "I had the check engine light but it went away after a while", or that minor issues such as mirror motors, radio station memory, navigation glitches, fan issues, "wait two minutes untill everything is off before you plug the charger", "wait for system to fully boot before you start", panel misalignment and such should not be counted against it. These are truly minor, yet when spending 6 figures on a car most of the consumers will expect them to happen to a minority of owners. I waited almost a year now, and I am just wandering if there was anyone who had no problems whatsoever?

I read also Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Maserati forums, as I am interested in all these for a future car. They all have glitches (including my BMW who had a fuel pump problem). It is just the nagging persistence of something happening to a lot of members here that concerns me.

After having gone through constantly repairing a beloved car some 25 years ago (hey, I fixed everything on my own, including a tranny repair), I decided that life is too short to have these bother me.

I am minding the environment, and love the looks of the car. I want to be supportive of the new technology. It is just the Fisker is below what I can tolerate for now.

Since this is a recurring theme, it would be helpful to have owners who had no problem post that as such - will increase the confidence of people like myself who are interested, but concerned. And no problem should mean "I picked the car from the dealer, and all features worked as advertised without any glitches" - excluding voluntary recalls, which are more understandable. Once such opinions appear more commonly on this forum, Fisker will probably be selling more vehicles, and not be outsold 6:1 by say BMW 6 series (to take a car of similar price range).

 

[Fabulist]

Since this is a recurring theme, it would be helpful to have owners who had no problem post that as such - will increase the confidence of people like myself who are interested, but concerned. And no problem should mean "I picked the car from the dealer, and all features worked as advertised without any glitches" - excluding voluntary recalls, which are more understandable. Once such opinions appear more commonly on this forum, Fisker will probably be selling more vehicles, and not be outsold 6:1 by say BMW 6 series (to take a car of similar price range).

It would be pretty strange to get on a site such as this one and see hundreds of posts along the lines of "I did not have any problems today. Just wanted to tell everyone that all went well today." By its very nature, this is a place owners, users, and enthusiasts turn to for answers and discussion about what seems out of spec. or odd or confusing and to express their opinions about how something could have been done better.

I, for example, have said on numerous occasions that I have an almost 2nd Amendment view of my Karma, as in, to take it away from me they will have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. (For international readers, the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees a citizen's right to bear arms and more colorful gun owners use words to that effect to describe how they feel about their gun rights and the government's attempts at passing gun control laws). At the same time, I have a long list of demands and suggestions for Fisker to implement that is also well documented in my many posts on the subject.

So does that make me positive or critical? And would a casual reader scanning the headlines of my posts conclude that a Karma is a useless piece of junk or the best car in a long line of great cars I have owned? I am definitely much closer to the latter than the former, but even I would complain if members posted "My Karma worked great today and I was not stranded or faced with any weird behavior" every day because I come here for information, and that sort of posting conveys zero useful information.

So let's hope Fisker itself is getting out the good news and telling people how great their cars are while we do what true enthusiasts do and nit pick and dissect the smallest detail about the car like our lives depended on it.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

I've only had my Karma for 26 days (having picked it up on the 1st, today is the 26th) and I have not been able to drive it much for the last week+ due to kidney stone issues, but it's by far the most fun car I've ever had.

Most reliable? Only time will tell ... but my previous (and I still have it) car was a Consumer Reports "recommended" Subaru. It's been quite good, but it's not fun, it's a utility-type appliance. I use it for camping trips because it has high(ish) clearance and AWD. When that car was new, I took it on a 1000+ mile trip, down to Arizona and (intending) back via Death Valley, and I got a Check Engine light on the drive back towards California (as I was just about at Quartzsite AZ, on Interstate 10). I stopped in Quartzsite, found a pay phone, called the main Subaru number, and asked what I could do about this. Their answer was: drive to the nearest dealer (Phoenix). That was the wrong direction so the next nearest was just outside Palm Springs.

So, on a Friday afternoon, I drove my new Subaru to Palm Springs (technically, Cathedral City), with the Check Engine light on. Unfortunately the dealer had just one guy who knew how to operate their diagnostic computer, and he'd left early to go pick up his own car (a Ford truck if I remember right!) from another dealer. I was given the option of sticking around in Cathedral City all weekend and bringing it in on Monday, but that was not going to work. I did not dare to drive up to Death Valley for camping, with the Check Engine light on. Instead, I just drove the rest of the way back to the Berkeley area, staying on major freeways all the way, in case the car quit.

I got home without any problems and stayed at home all weekend instead, and brought the car to my local dealer on Monday. Of course, when I got in it Monday morning and started the car up, the Check Engine light went out. It turns out I had a minor problem with the Mass Air Flow sensor, which was replaced under warranty, and the car would probably have been fine in Death Valley. But because I picked a CR-recommended "reliable" vehicle, I had to abort my camping trip and was inconvenienced with a trip to the dealer to get warranty service.

There's just no guarantees either way. The Karma has been free of any major-or-scary issue for well over 1200 miles so far (though of course the Subaru was up to about 2k when the problem occurred). Yes, the Karma has given me a bunch of minor glitches, mostly focused around the touch screen, where the software is still just not ready yet. But mechanically, it's been great. And the "fun" factor is a pretty big deal. It's also a lot more comfortable than the Subaru—even driving 640 miles in one day, my back and butt were not sore.

 

[Karma31]

I' am a CU subscriber and use it often to help pick printers, can openers, vacuum cleaners but NEVER EVER an automobile. My Karma far exceeds my expectations. My closest friend, also a dedicated car buff tried his best to talk me out of picking up my Karma when it came in. We both have pretty much owned at one time or another every marque with dealers in the US and he was adamant buying the Fisker was a blunder. Well he recently visited me for 10 days and we took numerous long and short trips in the Karma and of course he got a chance to drive it. His parting words were "I was wrong. This is the best car either of us have ever owned". I agree.

 

[Bert Yetman]

Are any of you old enough to remember the Tucker automobile? Just after WWII. It was a game changer too. Innovative technology, radical design, unheard of safety features, fast, and economical. The Big 3 (GM,Ford,Chrysler) at the time litigated Tucker out of business (bankruptcy). They simply didn't want competition from a newcomer. The media gleefully spread all the bad news.

Could a version of this same philosophy be happening to Fisker?

 

[Fabulist]

Are any of you old enough to remember the Tucker automobile? Just after WWII. It was a game changer too. Innovative technology, radical design, unheard of safety features, fast, and economical. The Big 3 (GM,Ford,Chrysler) at the time litigated Tucker out of business (bankruptcy). They simply didn't want competition from a newcomer. The media gleefully spread all the bad news.

Could a version of this same philosophy be happening to Fisker?

I don't really buy into the Big 3 conspiracy theory. I think Fisker is caught in a political debate, particularly post-Solyndra, that has nothing to do with its products. Tesla is a much bigger threat to the auto industry and the fossil oil industry, because it is 4 years ahead of Fisker in its product cycle and unlike the Karma it uses zero fossil fuel (directly), but no one bothers attacking it because it took a lot less Federal loan money and its factory is in the US, so there is no political hay to be made by saying bad things about it.

 

[karma1]

If CR had updated their car on Fisker's Software (6.28), which they did not, then you would not have these "intermittent glitches related to gauges, power windows, warning lights, and the radio" Moreover Fisker now has a more responsive touch screen since the version CR tested. I agree..its a bit convoluted, but future models will be more user friendly.

No this big ticket car is not a limo. Most of us buyer we're not in the market for a limo when we visited our Fisker dealer to buy our Karma's. Visibility is actually very good. Not Mini Van visibility and room...but very good none the less.

Sacrificing t0o much function for fashion. Not so. I prefer the function of getting my 65 MPGe to 150 MPGe ANYDAY over the alternatives. Plus. I'm a member of a family of 4. It works just fine. Moreover, I don't take my kids to work. Usually just me or clients during the day.

Again...I'm not scratching my head asking myself - How am I going to fit 6 in the Karma!? Did not buy it for that number.


Let's HIGHLIGHT the POSITIVES for a moment, as we should not confuse our future owners. I don't want anyone to be drowned out in the hideous headline of the CR report.

Before, I do...Let's all take a second. Can we all agree that the Media (Political and Otherwise) is such BS...!? They just want to tear good things and good people apart. Future Fisker buyer...Go talk to an owner and your dealer before you even put any stock in the negative headlines of Fisker Automotive. I can tell you this with certainty. 95% of the negatives of what you read re: Fisker is distorted and/or untrue. Owner's love their cars and Fisker takes care of them.

Ok...Back to the FACTS or POSITIVES.

* The car is Simply Stunning!
* You can keep on driving when the battery pack is depleated.
* Strong Acceleration.
* Great Ride
* Great Handling
* Great Breaking Performance
* Great or Fist Class Interior / Materials
* Great overall Gas Milage

Folks - Look what CR is doing to the iPhone 5 Right now. They are TRASHING Apple's Maps. Much like Apple, Fisker will continue to fix these "glitches" w/ Software Updates. Remember - CR did not even recommend getting an iPhone before the 4S.

So Everyone - I RECOMMEND you don't put too much weight into what CR has do say about the Fisker Karma as it relates to the glitches. Fisker has and will continue to improve in vast order.

Fisker is selling Karma's a at decent pace. I imagine sales will escalate after the election and there after. The Karma's run fantastic. Glitches are a thing of the past. It is the best looking car on the road today IMO. We are changing the world's perception of drivetrains and how they are driven. Fisker will continue to grow and polish the brand and numbers will increase.

Remember - We are a family of believers !

Admittedly, I got out early, but my experience with the car was exactly what CR described. Just received a letter yesterday stating that my dealer is no longer an authorized dealer, so probably just as we'll for me that my dealer bought the car back.

 

[Stefan]

Karma1,
Where is your dealer located?



Stefan

 

[karma1]

Karma1,
Where is your dealer located?



Stefan

My dealer was 90 miles away in Bentonville Arkansas. Now, the closest dealer is in Tulsa Oklahoma according to the letter.

 

[Dave_Car_Guy]

I have had only two minor problems with my Fisker:
1) it takes me an inordinately long time to return home from the grocery store: (because dozens of people stop me to discuss the car)
2) I feel guilty using gas station bathrooms when I am on the road, because I haven't filled up in a couple thousand miles.

Other than that, I have had no issues with my car. And I was running 6.15 software until just a couple weeks ago. My car has been excellent. As has been pointed out in this forum, readers should beware that POSITIVE experiences are rarely a reason to seek out a forum. By definition, forums such as these can easily get dominated by negatives. In every other car forum I have become part of (Ferrari, BMW, Porsche), I started going to that forum to research an issue or get help from other owners that have already solved a problem I was having. So even if 100% of all posts were negative, it is not a representative sample of all owners and can not be extrapolated from such data. Of a few thousand cars, how many are represented here by the negative postings? Several dozen, maybe?

That said, I am clearly biased. But then again, so are the vast majority of journalists.