[ftyl]

Hi everyone,

I just got my Karma (#557) which I bought in the US for various reasons and had subsequently imported to europe...

Trying to get it registered I might be facing a shocking issue, Fisker does not seem to want to support vehicles bought in the US and imported to Europe by the owner... Seems very strange to me, but thats what the local dealer has said he thinks is the case, but he is checking with them...

Anyone do anything similar and face issues like this?

How is it my fault (and what does it matter in the end) if I would have simply moved from the US to Europe, I would have taken the car too? And they would have stopped supporting me? This makes no sense...



-- FTYL

 

[Fabulist]

Hi everyone,

I just got my Karma (#557) which I bought in the US for various reasons and had subsequently imported to europe...

Trying to get it registered I might be facing a shocking issue, Fisker does not seem to want to support vehicles bought in the US and imported to Europe by the owner... Seems very strange to me, but thats what the local dealer has said he thinks is the case, but he is checking with them...

Anyone do anything similar and face issues like this?

How is it my fault (and what does it matter in the end) if I would have simply moved from the US to Europe, I would have taken the car too? And they would have stopped supporting me? This makes no sense...



-- FTYL

I am guessing they are trying to cut down on any grey market activity to support their dealers in Europe, but that does not apply to you since you are not trying to sell the car to someone else. Since they build and sell the exact same car all over the world, there can't be any technical issues. I would suggest that you be very persistent and not take "No" for an answer and work your way up the chain of command at Fisker.

 

[ftyl]

I am guessing they are trying to cut down on any grey market activity to support their dealers in Europe, but that does not apply to you since you are not trying to sell the car to someone else. Since they build and sell the exact same car all over the world, there can't be any technical issues. I would suggest that you be very persistent and not take "No" for an answer and work your way up the chain of command at Fisker.

Hi,

that's what I am trying... already eMailed Fisker directly, will see what happens, if someone has a good contact there for me to try, I would appreciate it.

-- FTYL

 

[dennis]

that's what I am trying... already eMailed Fisker directly, will see what happens, if someone has a good contact there for me to try, I would appreciate it.

-- FTYL

I would call their Consumer Affairs Department ("VIP Service" in Tom LaSorda-speak) at (855) 575-7577. Other posters on this forum have reported good results in working with them.

 

[SoCalGuy]

Aren't there some slight differences in the US and European models? E.g. in the US version, the side reflectors are lights while I think the European version just has them as reflectors...

 

[ftyl]

There are small rule differences but most is changed by region setting in the console.

The yellow side reflectors are us/Canadian rules... Makes my SLS in the states look ridiculous if you ask me

Will try to call customer relations, let's see how they react.

 

[Dutch]

I sent you a PM

 

[Nimisys]

It may actually stim from the european distrabution system. in europe, the retailers you buy from don't buy the car from the factory, they buy it from the importer, who provides the warranty AND technical info to the retailers. the importer then turns around deals with the factory based on the terms of their contract. a fisker retailer doesn't speak with fisker directly, they contact the company in charge of the importing and distrabution for that region/country. Because you bought the car in North America and not through the importer, the importer may rightly feel they don't hold the liability on your vehicle and therefor does not owe you any support.

At least thats how the system was explained to me.

 

[svp6]

You are a victim of global market sales strategies, and you are certainly not the only one. I remember seeing a documentary on the possibility of importing brand new Mercedes cars from Japan into UK. Pricewise, it was advantageous, even if you had to pay transport, VAT, and registration. However, MB UK would not provide support / warranty under ANY circumstances. People who import those have their service at independent mechanics or sometime for a hefty price at the dealership.

While I can hear your pain, I can also understand where manufacturers come from. For instance, all cars sold in US are significantly cheaper than EU - just try and configure whatever brand you want in US and then go to corresponding German / French / UK site and you'll see what I mean. Prices in Euro are usually same ballpark figure as prices in dollars. For instance, my BMW configured to same specs as here is E 104,230 in Germany (including 19% VAT; ~$138,000 total at 1.32 exchange rate) and was $103,500 MSRP in US ($111,262 if you include VAT). That's a wopping 27k difference which would cover the transport (~$3-4000), import tax (questionable since manufactured in Germany) and registration, and still make me a nice profit if I were able to import it into EU, say Germany.... If imports were allowed and tolerated, no one would buy in Europe, and everyone will import from the cheapest market. Same rules for US, perhaps even more stringent. Read more about gray market here:

So, I am not at all surprised the local Fisker dealer does not want to provide you with warranty (which is unsustainable to you given the current reliability issues). Try to convince headquarters to hear your case, and if they agree to support you, take it as an act of generosity, as they are by no means obliged to do so.... Good luck!

 

[musique]

I've heard from my dealer they are not allowed to do that i.e. they said they had one car that is sold but the buyer wanted to take it out of the country and that wouldn't work. He didn't mention why.

 

[ftyl]

You are a victim of global market sales strategies, and you are certainly not the only one. I remember seeing a documentary on the possibility of importing brand new Mercedes cars from Japan into UK. Pricewise, it was advantageous, even if you had to pay transport, VAT, and registration. However, MB UK would not provide support / warranty under ANY circumstances. People who import those have their service at independent mechanics or sometime for a hefty price at the dealership.

While I can hear your pain, I can also understand where manufacturers come from. For instance, all cars sold in US are significantly cheaper than EU - just try and configure whatever brand you want in US and then go to corresponding German / French / UK site and you'll see what I mean. Prices in Euro are usually same ballpark figure as prices in dollars. For instance, my BMW configured to same specs as here is E 104,230 in Germany (including 19% VAT; ~$138,000 total at 1.32 exchange rate) and was $103,500 MSRP in US ($111,262 if you include VAT). That's a wopping 27k difference which would cover the transport (~$3-4000), import tax (questionable since manufactured in Germany) and registration, and still make me a nice profit if I were able to import it into EU, say Germany.... If imports were allowed and tolerated, no one would buy in Europe, and everyone will import from the cheapest market. Same rules for US, perhaps even more stringent. Read more about gray market here:

So, I am not at all surprised the local Fisker dealer does not want to provide you with warranty (which is unsustainable to you given the current reliability issues). Try to convince headquarters to hear your case, and if they agree to support you, take it as an act of generosity, as they are by no means obliged to do so.... Good luck!

Trust me, the car was much more expensive for me to buy in the US. And also, I tried to buy it in europe for MONTHS. Bad communication by the dealers I'm afraid... so when I was in Florida and I saw one standing right at a dealership, I just took it directly.

I might just ship it back, but this whole procedure just cost me over 35000 EUR. I'm not going to let fisker just "not care"...

 

[svp6]

Trust me, the car was much more expensive for me to buy in the US. And also, I tried to buy it in europe for MONTHS. Bad communication by the dealers I'm afraid... so when I was in Florida and I saw one standing right at a dealership, I just took it directly.

I might just ship it back, but this whole procedure just cost me over 35000 EUR. I'm not going to let fisker just "not care"...

I thought a Fisker bought in Europe is E 100-120k * see here) and here. US Fisker retails at 110-120K. What am I missing?

 

[Stefan]

ftyl,
did you make any progress?
Have you been able to get a license for your Karma?
In which Country did you import yor Car?

 

[Bert Yetman]

I had that same problem with GM quite a few years ago. While in the military, I shipped a 1962 Corvette with fuel injection to Germany. Some time later, after a broken ring was repaired, I wrote GM inquiring where to have the fuel injection serviced (tweaked). They responded with outrage that I would take a FI Corvette to Europe, as they did not sell, or service, FI there. I wrote back that a careful reading of my warranty, and other purchase papers did not indicate any statement or reference to not shipping my car to Europe, or anywhere else.

They wrote back with a phone number in Rotterdam, Holland for a GM tech rep who would help. The tech rep stated that GM was shipping him a manometer (used to calibrate FI) and he would call me when it arrived. He called and a meeting was arranged at the Frankfurt GM garage. They knew nothing about FI, but I had read the book, therefore the tech rep loaned me the manometer for as long as I wanted. I should have kept it, as I still have the Corvette.

Four years in Germany with no further problems.