A free VIN check on a Fisker Karma pulls up 5 owner complaints and 5 recall campaigns from NHTSA, spread across 5 production runs that average 1 complaints each. The spread is tighter than on most cars — the heaviest run carries 1, only 1× the typical Karma — so on this one the model-level answer is closer to the truth. Characters 1–11 still tell you which run is yours.
Which build runs owners report most
Characters 1–11 of a VIN identify the production run — plant, model year, body and engine — which splits the Fisker Karma into 5 distinct batches rather than one nameplate. On the Fisker Karma that distinction is not academic: its 5 runs average 1 complaints each, but the worst one — YHAK14AA7CA, a 2012 build — carries 1. That is 1× the model average, and the difference is invisible if you only look up the model name. The five runs at the top of this table hold 100% of every Karma complaint on file.
| Production run (VIN 1–11) | Year | Complaints | Involved a crash | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YHAK14AA7CA•••••• | 2012 | — | — | |
| YH4K14AA1CA•••••• | 2012 | — | — | |
| YH4K14AA5CA•••••• | 2012 | — | — | |
| YH4K14AA3CA•••••• | 2012 | — | — | |
| YH4K14AA9CA•••••• | 2012 | — | — |
Match the first eleven characters of your own VIN against these 5 runs. A hit means the fault reports below describe your exact build; no hit means yours sits among the 0 Fisker Karma runs that drew fewer reports than any listed here.
Which model years to check twice
Ranked by complaints per production run, not by raw count — a raw count only tells you which year sold well. Dividing by the number of runs strips the sales figures out and leaves the actual fault rate.
| Year | Per run | Complaints | Runs | Crashes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 5 | 5 | — |
Heaviest year here is 2012 at 1 complaints per run; lightest is 2012 at 1. Every year listed is old enough to have finished collecting reports — the newest Fisker Karma here is a 2012.
What to inspect on this car
One system accounts for 33% of everything Fisker Karma owners report: Electrical System. Put it at the top of the inspection list — electrical system is where 4 of the 5 complaints on file landed, and a mechanic given a named part finds more than one told to «look it over».
| System | Complaints | Involved a crash | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | — | — | |
| Power Train | — | — | |
| Service Brakes | — | — | |
| Hydraulic | — | — | |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | — | — | |
| Exterior Lighting | — | — | |
| Fuel/propulsion System | — | — | |
| Unknown Or Other | — | — |
Open recalls to verify
NHTSA has 5 recall campaigns on the Fisker Karma, covering build years 2012 to 2012, and every one of them is free to fix at any franchised dealer, for the life of the car, whoever owns it now. The work only happens if someone books it, though — and a used car that changed hands may never have been brought in. Check each campaign below against your VIN.
| Campaign | Component | Model years |
|---|---|---|
| 11V598000 | Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery | 2012 |
| 12V413000 | Engine And Engine Cooling:cooling System:fan | 2012 |
| 12V241000 | Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery | 2012 |
| 19V181000 | Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module | 2012 |
| 17V004000 | Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module | 2012 |
The digits in a campaign number carry the year it was opened — «09V419000» means 2009. Compare that with the model years affected and you can see how long the fault ran before anyone acted on it.
How serious were they
A complaint count on its own is a weak signal — a rattling trim panel and a stalling engine both count as one. NHTSA records flag whether an incident involved a crash, a fire or an injury, and that is what separates annoyance from danger.
| Outcome | Fisker Karma | All vehicles |
|---|---|---|
| Complaints filed | 5 | 1,109,349 |
| Involved a crash | 0 (0%) | 63,931 (5.8%) |
| Involved a fire | 0 (0%) | 26,881 (2.4%) |
| Injuries reported | 0 | 57,747 |
| Deaths reported | 0 | 2,722 |
Crash-related reports run 100% below the all-vehicle rate — complaints here skew towards nuisance faults rather than dangerous ones.
You know what it is. Find out what it's worth.
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How this check works
The file behind this page holds 1,109,349 complaints filed with NHTSA between 1981 and 2026, across 297,579 production runs. The Fisker Karma share of that is 5 complaints over 5 runs — 0% of everything on record. Each one carries the reporter's VIN prefix, the systems involved and whether the incident produced a crash, a fire or an injury.
Grouping those 5 runs by prefix is the whole point. Counted at model level the Fisker Karma averages 1 complaints per run, which hides the fact that one run carries 1 of them — a 1× difference the model name alone will never show you. We publish the eleven characters in full — they identify a batch, not a car, since the six-digit serial number naming the individual vehicle is not part of them.
Everything above is built from those 5 safety records and nothing else, so title brands, odometer readings, auction history and insurance write-offs are not in it — they live in DMV and insurer databases rather than NHTSA's, and no free tool has them, this one included.
Frequently asked questions
How do I check a Fisker Karma VIN for free?
Type the 17 characters into the box above. We match the first eleven — the production run — against 5 NHTSA complaint records and 5 recall campaigns for this model. No account, no card.
What does a free Karma VIN check actually show?
For this model it is 5 complaints spread over 5 production runs, led by electrical system at 33% of all reports, plus every recall campaign and whether the incidents involved crashes or fires. What it cannot show is title brands, odometer readings or accident claims — those sit in DMV and insurer databases, not in NHTSA's.
Which Karma years have the most complaints?
Per production run, 2012 is heaviest at 1 complaints per run. Judging by raw totals instead would just point at whichever year sold best.
Is a Karma VIN check the same as a history report?
No. A history report (Carfax, AutoCheck) buys DMV title records, auction listings and insurance claims for one car. This is a federal safety check, and it answers a question those reports never ask: how your build compares with the other 4 Karma runs on record, where the gap between the worst and the typical one runs to 1×. Both are worth having; only one of them is free.
Can someone identify my Karma from these VIN prefixes?
No. The eleven characters shown identify a production batch — plant, year, body, engine — and that batch covers thousands of cars, which is why YHAK14AA7CA above carries 1 separate reports. The six digits naming an individual vehicle are the serial number, and they are not part of what we publish.
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