[Az Runner]

Hopefully, I will be one of the only people having to do this, but my Karma was in an accident about a month ago. (And yes, I was thought about killing the person that hit me, except that they took off.)

I expected it to be a lengthy repair process, but this has been much worse than I anticipated. There was damage to the front passenger portion of the vehicle, including the ICE radiator and everything forward (crumple zone components, headlight washer, headlight, and fender/body damage, including the styrofoam thing).

Getting parts from Fisker to repair the vehicle is proving to be VERY difficult. At first, my dealer (Fisker of Scottsdale) and their shop had a very hard time ordering the parts needed for the repair. Fisker was not able to provide prices for most of the parts needed, and no ship date for any of the parts. 31 days later, we just received some of the exterior parts, but none of the internal components. They (Fisker corporate parts) told us that they are having problems with some of the parts suppliers and have suspended production of the Karma completely! My suspicion is that is due to the battery supplier issue. However, they wouldn't tell us if the parts we need are involved in the "parts supply issue".

So at this point, we have no idea when we will be able repair my Karma.

All in all, rather frustrating. Caveat emptor.

And yes, you read that right: They (Fisker Parts) told us that Karma production has been suspended!

 

[pythagoras]

The story that production was suspended awaiting A123 bankruptcy resolution circulated widely last week -- the CEO said so at LA Auto Show. The A123 bankruptcy auction was today hopefully we'll hear something soon.

Then if the insurance company finishes processing those 330 Sandy claims and releases them to salvage, you can get your parts the old fashioned way, junkyard dog! :angel:

 

[doug]

So it was a hit-and-run?? I would be sooo angry. That's a good point that there should be plenty of salvage parts, assuming Fisker buys those cars back from the insurance agency. The rumor from Finland is that Karma production has been stopped for a while, so I'm not sure the A123 thing is the only issue.

 

[AnOutsider]

Don't most manufacturers produce parts for replacement? I'm not sure if it works differently due to how the karma is built (sort of built to order), but I figured car makers had to stockpile replacement parts?

 

[doug]

I wouldn't say it's build-to-order. Seems to me after the initial vehicles, they built up a stock of cars with a variety of specs and and sent them out to dealers or kept them stored. True they should have kept a stock of parts too which if they didn't is mind-boggling.

 

[Sigurd]

@doug, I think the A123 issue has been going on for a while. Why would you repeat rumors? How about we stick with facts for a while. Rumors and conjectures are not constructive for Fisker or Tesla, right?

 

[Az Runner]

Yes, basically a hit and run.

I can only hope that they will let us get some parts from somewhere, I have spent a lot of time in junkyards for previous projects. Right now, the only response from Fisker Parts has been that they don't know when or if they can supply us with the parts.

They did say parts suppliers, plural. I asked if that meant they can't get the parts that we need for repairs, but they weren't sure, and repeated that they were having trouble with some of their parts suppliers. They only knew that they don't have parts on hand to ship to us, and don't know when or if they can get them. Basically, it boiled down to "we are working on it, and can't tell you anything else."

 

[Az Runner]

I was also quite surprised that they didn't have some inventory of supply parts. It took a month to ship us a couple of replacement body parts. Hopefully, we can get the paint to match, it's a Laguna!

 

[pythagoras]

Yes Doug is soliciting rumors about the Fisker shutdown as part of his moderator job over at Tesla Motors Club. Doug it feels like you're a member of the other team lurking around our locker room, acting superior and probing for weakness

 

[Antonin]

If anybody hears where those Sandy cars end up, please let us know. Might be a good source of spare parts for everybody here.

 

[Fabulist]

Yes Doug is soliciting rumors about the Fisker shutdown as part of his moderator job over at Tesla Motors Club. Doug it feels like you're a member of the other team lurking around our locker room, acting superior and probing for weakness

Please never combine "our locker room" and "probing" in the same sentence again. It's going to take a while to get those images out of my head.

 

[SoCalGuy]

If anybody hears where those Sandy cars end up, please let us know. Might be a good source of spare parts for everybody here.

+1

I for one wouldn't mind getting a few extra spare parts like the front fender, wheels/rims, interior wood trim, and maybe headlights etc.

 

[AnOutsider]

Yes Doug is soliciting rumors about the Fisker shutdown as part of his moderator job over at Tesla Motors Club. Doug it feels like you're a member of the other team lurking around our locker room, acting superior and probing for weakness

lol what? You think a moderator's job is to trash talk "the other guys"?

I chat with doug very often and he's always talking about various manufacturers in the space, their tech and how they're doing. He's a car guy as far as geeks go, and he's not all rosy on Tesla either (doesn't even own one, just interested in the tech).

It's not that serious.

 

[DHarris]

Parts for Fisker Automobiles, including crash parts, are readily available. Occasionally, as was in this case, a part may need to be manufactured and shipped from our factory in Finland. In these cases, we absorb the freight costs as we could not provide the part from our facility in the US. We are in the process of opening an additional parts warehouse here in our Anaheim, CA facility this month which will improve our delivery times in the future to our retailers.

We would ask that if you should encounter any delay in repairing, obtaining parts or accessories for your Karma, please contact our customer care representatives at 855-575-7577.

Thank you all for being our customers.



David Harris
Fisker Automotive

 

[pythagoras]

Thanks for this statement David. I hope you can jump on such concerns quickly in the future to keep us owners reassured and keep ammunition away from the Fisker skeptics.

 

[Sigurd]

I'll second that!

 

[smoothoperator]

I wouldn't say it's build-to-order. Seems to me after the initial vehicles, they built up a stock of cars with a variety of specs and and sent them out to dealers or kept them stored. True they should have kept a stock of parts too which if they didn't is mind-boggling.

Have you ever tried to order parts from Tesla for the Roadster? Most have to come from England and take forever. I had to wait 3 months for a part that I ordered, for one of my roadsters.

 

[doug]

Have you ever tried to order parts from Tesla for the Roadster? Most have to come from England and take forever. I had to wait 3 months for a part that I ordered, for one of my roadsters.

From the stories I've heard, I don't doubt it. The Karma and the Roadster are similar in that respect. Both are low volume vehicles manufactured by 3rd parties overseas. There are still 20 or so Roadsters yet to be sold in Europe and production ended a year ago.

 

[Weird Fishes]

I was also quite surprised that they didn't have some inventory of supply parts. It took a month to ship us a couple of replacement body parts. Hopefully, we can get the paint to match, it's a Laguna!

Az Runner: I also have a Laguna Karma. Prior to purchasing the car, I asked the dealer how difficult it would be to get ahold of the paint if, ten years down the road, I ended up crashing the car. The dealer told me that the Laguna paint was the only color offered by Fisker that was a standard automotive paint manufactured by DuPont. According to what he said, getting your hands on Laguna paint for the purposes of bodywork shouldn't be a problem at all. I've got my fingers crossed for ya'!

 

[Az Runner]

Thanks for the information, David. It would have been very helpful to have that information communicated to either myself, my local dealer, or our shop. We (both I and my dealer) have made calls to Client Relations, Parts, and other departments, trying to find out some sort of status without success. This marks the first time that we have gotten any response other than, in essence, "we don't know," or "we will have to get back to you." Actually, this is the first time that I have learned that the parts are at all available!