Fisker backtracks on telling owners to pay for repairs of malfunctioning EVs

• Fisker has backtracked on telling owners of its EVs to pay for recall repairs.
• The bankrupt EV firm previously said customers would have to cover the "labor costs" of two outstanding recalls themselves.
• Some Fisker Ocean owners previously told BI they had spent as much as $70,000 on cars that are now undrivable.

Owners of Fisker Ocean EVs will no longer have to pay for recall repairs.

The bankrupt auto company has changed a post on its website to say it will cover the cost of repairs for two outstanding recalls, after initially saying owners of its Ocean EV would have to pay for "labor costs" themselves.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), automakers are legally required to provide safety recall repairs free of charge for vehicles less than 15 years old.

A spokesperson for the NHTSA told Business Insider that the agency "is working to ensure vehicle owners receive recall remedies without charge, as required by federal law."

An expensive 'lawn ornament'

BI previously reported that some customers who had paid as much as $70,000 for their Oceans had been left with undrivable and unfixable vehicles following Fisker's bankruptcy in June.

One owner told BI that a battery problem had left his Ocean unusable.

"It's literally a lawn ornament right now," he said.

The Fisker Ocean currently has five outstanding recalls, with two — concerning the car's door handles and its water pump — requiring physical inspection and repairs.

In a recall FAQ previously posted to Fisker's website, the bankrupt EV firm said that due to its "current financial situation," it could only cover the cost of the necessary parts for those recalls, not the repairs themselves.

The recall FAQ also stated that any "labor costs" associated with repairs would need to be covered by vehicle owners. Fisker apologized for "any inconvenience this may cause."

However, by early Wednesday, the recall FAQ had been updated to state that Fisker would "provide the necessary parts (including the labor) at no cost" to Ocean owners.

The reversal will come as a relief for long-suffering Fisker Ocean owners, some of whom previously told BI they had struggled to contact the company or find repair shops that could fix their vehicles.

Fisker owner Steven Hammer told BI the prospect of having to pay for recall repairs was "positively infuriating."

"It's just one more punch to the gut," said the Colorado resident, who previously had to pay to transport his Ocean to a dealership in another state to fix a broken roof panel after being unable to reach anyone at Fisker.

"There's a level of cost cutting and incompetence that's hard to bear. We paid BMW prices and got Yugo quality," Hammer added, referring to the Yugoslavian hatchback that became notorious for its unreliability when it was released in the US in the 1980s.

In the recall FAQ, Fisker said it would address the other three recalls on the Ocean with a software update.

The company warned customers to drive their vehicles "with caution" until the recalls have been addressed.

Fisker is the second failed auto company founded by famed former Tesla designer Henrik Fisker. It collapsed into bankruptcy earlier this year.

The EV startup struggled to ship cars and address quality issues with its electric cars, with former and current employees telling BI mismanagement and cost cutting were partly to blame for its demise.

Fisker did not respond to a request for comment sent outside normal working hours.

Do you work at Fisker or own an Ocean? Get in touch with this reporter at tcarter@businessinsider.com.