[Fabulist]

I have been reading a lot of recent threads regarding DIY repairs and fabricating parts, and while I admire everyone's imagination and industry, this would be a good time to take a quick pause and contemplate our warranty situation, which is, to put it mildly, somewhat murky.

As I see it, and this is just my personal observation as an owner and not a legal opinion of any kind, my warranty from Fisker is still in effect. While it is true that Fisker has stopped paying for any repairs, it has not repudiated the warranty, nor has it rejected it through the Bankruptcy process. So, as I see it, my car is still covered under the original warranty and Fisker owes me whatever I spend on covered repairs. Admittedly, this is cold comfort when my car needs work done, particularly for any really expensive items, but as long as I have not done anything to void the warranty, I fully expect to be either reimbursed at some point by whoever ends up owning Fisker, or have the warranty rejected in Bankruptcy if that is the ultimate outcome.

Starting with the big layoff, it was widely assumed that the company is days or hours away from Bankruptcy and the end of the warranty, but Fisker has managed to hang on, and there appears to be a non-zero probability of a deal that would preserve the company in some form, including possibly some level of warranty protection for existing owners.

As long as the latter possibility exists, to the extent absolutely possible, I will avoid making any changes or repairs with non-approved parts or procedures to avoid any repairs or upgrades that would invalidate the warranty, until the question is settled one way or another. Of course, if my car stops working, I will do what I have to do to get it working, but would try as hard as possible to use approved parts and approved technicians and facilities. I know that the resurgence of the warranty is a long shot, but I would prefer to hope for the best while preparing for the worst.

As I said already, these are just my personal opinions, and, as always, YMMV.

 

[Brugge]

You are owed a warranty. Any repairs that are being done to the vehicles should be documented and kept. No matter how slim the chance of reimbursement it would be a best practice. There is still much going on at Fisker and access to parts will become a reality. The time frame is hard to predict. The Karma has many suitors and she may want more than one to dance with her.

 

[smoothoperator]

Easiest way to look at this is to see what the dealers are doing. Most of their dealers in the largest markets have basically abandoned the brand and have left people to fend for themselves. Many of the engineers who designed certain portions of the vehicle were borderline incompetent. I am surprised to see that many Fisker engineers on Linkedin would proudly put some of their accomplishments as designing the RDM, CUI, or being part of the NVH team. These are for all intensive purposes poorly engineered solutions. Furthermore this pales in comparison to the failure of the marketing, aftersales, and executive management teams.

I have lost faith in the core group of retained executives and would rather go a different route than hold my breath that this company will turn the corner and suddenly start to right the ship. With the management that is currently present there is no way that Fisker will become successful. Until these people are canned and a whole new management team is put in I would not hold any hope. Once the mass firings trickle up to the incompetent executives that will be the telling sign of real change.

If these are the solutions that some of engineers and management came up then I am sorely disappointed. The biggest lesson I have learned is that the Fisker engineered solution is more often than not inferior to the customer engineered solution. The only benefit is the Fisker solution was free. Fisker was/is terrible at determining the root cause of many problems (aka Billy Tally effect). That is the brutal truth.

 

[Karma 2012]

Well, someone has to get all the left over funds before calling it quit. Fisker can quit, but Fisker management team will never quit until the job is complete ;-)

 

[Mikey43]

Well, someone has to get all the left over funds before calling it quit. Fisker can quit, but Fisker management team will never quit until the job is complete ;-)

Depends what you mean by the "job". Is their job to milk every last dollar of cash, or to facilitate a transfer of assets? If they are doing the former, then definitely doing a good job; if the latter, well that remains to be seen.

 

[Fabulist]

Depends what you mean by the "job". Is their job to milk every last dollar of cash, or to facilitate a transfer of assets? If they are doing the former, then definitely doing a good job; if the latter, well that remains to be seen.

I don't think there is any cash left to be milked at this point, especially after the DOE's loan shark move. I would guess that someone is in fact putting money into the company at this point rather than taking money out of it.

 

[smoothoperator]

I don't think there is any cash left to be milked at this point, especially after the DOE's loan shark move. I would guess that someone is in fact putting money into the company at this point rather than taking money out of it.

The only people taking money out of the company are the fat cat executives playing solitaire all day and having the company pay for their weekly flights to Det, Cle & Chi etc. If the individual(s) who is/are apparently putting money into the company ends up taking control of the company it is a good bet that these executives may go away. Regardless I don't think the warranty will come back unless a tech company buys Fisker (very unlikely although possible). The Karma platform for all intensive purposes is dead ( barring some sort of miracle).

 

[SoCalGuy]

There are a number of the executives still at Fisker HQ including Tony P, Gary H., Jim Y. et al. They have been completely unresponsive to customers (myself included) and I know that all of these folks are not burning the midnight oil to get deals done. I know several of them check out early on Fridays to head home (in some cases, that means a flight) or "work from home". I know that finding a strategic suitor doesn't entail that they be working 'round the clock and that there is some waiting involved, but at the same time, that 'free' time should be spent attending to customers, no? Or at least responding to say "stay tuned." So Tony & Gary specifically, if you're reading this, you owe us all some communication. Part of your job (especially Tony's) is to communicate with the folks that bought a product from you and that technically, you are still responsible for pursuant to the warranty that came with our Karmas. So long as you continue to draw a salary, that is part of your duty. Your performance to date has been atrocious and I for one would never buy a product made by a company with either of you at the helm. I have no idea how either of you sleep at night knowing that you draw a salary and do nothing in exchange for it. #incompetence #grossnegligence

 

[smoothoperator]

Horvat is too busy trying to find another job on company time....

https://twitter.com/garyhorvat

 

[Fabulist]

Depends what you mean by the "job". Is their job to milk every last dollar of cash, or to facilitate a transfer of assets? If they are doing the former, then definitely doing a good job; if the latter, well that remains to be seen.

The only people taking money out of the company are the fat cat executives playing solitaire all day and having the company pay for their weekly flights to Det, Cle & Chi etc. If the individual(s) who is/are apparently putting money into the company ends up taking control of the company it is a good bet that these executives may go away. Regardless I don't think the warranty will come back unless a tech company buys Fisker (very unlikely although possible). The Karma platform for all intensive purposes is dead ( barring some sort of miracle).

Steering the thread back to the original topic, I would think that part of FA's value is the loyalty of the current customers, that is admittedly in very short supply at the moment, but can be significantly restored by honoring at least some portion of the warranty. Also, I would seriously doubt that any dealer would work with a resurrected FA without a good-sized pot of money sitting in escrow (or in similar arrangements) to make sure any warranty claims for future products are well-funded. Fool me once, etc.

I can't imagine any prudent investor paying the full salaries of the top brass at Fisker while they are funding operations out of their own pockets (if that's what actually happening). I would guess that the executives are in the same boat as the dealers, i.e., owed a lot of money on contracts but not getting paid, and they are sticking around mostly to make sure they get paid at least some of it and also to be able to put some lipstick on the pig that has been their career at FA.

 

[Karma 2012]

Depends what you mean by the "job". Is their job to milk every last dollar of cash, or to facilitate a transfer of assets? If they are doing the former, then definitely doing a good job; if the latter, well that remains to be seen.

By "job," I meant milking current Karma owner's warranty money. One of the major reasons that I purchased the Karma is because of the 5 year warranty that was later extended to 6 years. As far as I know, the warranty is still effective. I did not do anything to void my warranty as of now. I am praying for all the owners to have good Karma for a long time. No pun intended.

 

[Ira]

I totally agree with Fab. If our warranties are honored sometime in the future, all reasonable claims for past repairs will be honored. Keep your fingers crossed and save your receipts.