Fisker Owners Left Stranded as Company’s Bankruptcy Leaves Them Scrambling for Parts and Service

As a car enthusiast, I’ve always been fascinated by the rise and fall of electric vehicle (EV) startups. One company that had promise but ultimately failed to deliver is Fisker. The company’s bankruptcy has left its owners in a difficult spot, struggling to find parts and service for their vehicles.

I recently spoke to several Fisker owners who shared their experiences with me. One owner, Steven Hammer, told me that he spent months trying to source a glass panel for his Ocean’s “SolarSky Roof,” a roof-mounted solar panel that the company said would allow drivers to supplement their battery. After being unable to reach anyone from the company and with local dealers unable to install the replacement part, Hammer is now paying to transport his car to a Fisker-certified dealership in another state.

“There are days where the only solace is it’s not a Cybertruck,” Hammer told me. “I do sometimes look back and wish I’d seen some of the red flags.”

Fisker Ocean owners are struggling to get parts and service for their vehicles

Another Fisker owner, who asked to remain anonymous, told me that he had to message current and former Fisker employees on Reddit and LinkedIn to acquire a new key fob after the company went bankrupt in June. After sending dozens of messages, he was eventually able to get a former employee to send him a new fob.

“It’s literally a lawn ornament now,” he said.

Fisker’s bankruptcy has left its owners in a difficult spot. With the company laying off most of its workforce and winding down operations, it’s unlikely that many of the issues with their vehicles will be addressed.

“They never had enough customer service personnel, but it’s gotten so much worse as they’ve gotten into more trouble. No question about that,” Hammer said.

According to Fisker’s chief restructuring officer, the company had around 179 employees at the start of July but is looking to reduce its headcount to around 138.

Fisker Ocean owners are struggling to get parts and service for their vehicles

For some Fisker customers, the issues with their vehicles have left them borderline undriveable. One New York-based Fisker owner told me that he and his wife had been unable to fix their Ocean’s AC after their local service center told them it was no longer working with Fisker, leaving their car unusable in New York’s summer heat.

“If it breaks, then I don’t know what we would do. It kind of sounds silly, but we wouldn’t be too upset if someone came and just stole it,” he said.

Another Fisker owner, who also asked to be kept anonymous, began having problems with his brakes days after his $70,000 Ocean was delivered in November. He reported the issue to Fisker, who rented him a loaner vehicle from Hertz while he waited for the problem to be fixed.

The issue was never resolved, however, and in June the owner received a letter from Hertz informing him that as Fisker had failed to pay the rental charge of the loaner vehicle, he was being charged nearly $5,000.

“I was so excited, super excited, when I first ordered the car…but now I think this is a $70,000 mistake I made,” the owner said.

“Fisker stopped responding two to three months ago…they stopped responding to any support or service request even before the bankruptcy,” he added.

The owner said that he was continuing to drive his Fisker short distances, despite it still having braking issues — but similar to the other Fisker owners I spoke to, he thought it was only a matter of time before something else broke.

Fisker Ocean owners are struggling to get parts and service for their vehicles

Part of the reason Fisker vehicles are difficult to fix is that repairing the software-heavy cars often requires access to a proprietary software tool developed by Fisker, known as FAST.

Neil Miller, COO of American Lease, the rental company that has purchased the remaining Fisker Oceans at a bargain price of around $14,000 each, confirmed to me that the company was in discussions with the Fisker Owners Association about potentially collaborating on issues including parts and software.

He said that per the terms of its deal with Fisker, American Lease can only access the software on the cars it has purchased.

A former Fisker employee, who asked to be kept anonymous for privacy reasons, also told me that gaining access to Fisker software was crucial for retail owners to keep their cars working.

“What is needed to actually help keep customers keep their cars that they purchased on the road is to give them access to software,” said the ex-employee.

“The problem [with the EV industry] is a lot of the software is privatized,” he said. “The challenge is that the software is locked up by Fisker, as with every manufacturer.”

The former employee said that he hoped to get certified as a mobile technician to help Fisker owners fix their vehicles.

“It does nobody any good having these energy-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles parked as a paperweight in their driveway,” he said.

As the EV industry continues to grow and evolve, it’s clear that companies like Fisker need to prioritize their customers and provide them with the support and service they need to keep their vehicles on the road. For Fisker owners, it’s a waiting game to see what will happen next.

Fisker Ocean owners are struggling to get parts and service for their vehicles