Fisker Air Bags: Inflator Module

Fisker is recalling about 472 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

Campaign
19V181000
Manufacturer
Karma Automotive LLC
Reported
6 March 2019
Vehicles
472
Built between
Feb 2011 – Feb 2012
Models
1
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
NHTSA investigation
Owners notified
25 March 2019
Repaired
49%
Unrepaired
241

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between February 2011 and February 2012. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2012 Fisker KarmaBuilt February 2011 to February 2012

Repair progress

241 of 472 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2020.

49% repaired — 231 of 472 reported

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Karma Automotive (Karma) is recalling certain 2012 Fisker Karma vehicles ever registered in the states of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia. These vehicles are equipped with air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules, used as original equipment or replacement equipment, that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.

What could happen

An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.

What gets fixed

Karma has notified owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began March 25, 2019.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtFebruary 2011 to February 2012
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA6 March 2019
  3. Owners notified25 March 2019
  4. Latest repair reportQ2 2020 — 49% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 6 March 2019.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Karma customer service at 1-855-288-6109. Karma's number for this recall is 5.84.17.001.01.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
5.84.17.001.01
Recalling manufacturer
Karma Automotive LLC
Recall initiated by
ODI

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand