Westfalia is finally back in America after a nearly two-decade absence. This time, the famed builder of Class B camper vans is filling up the interiors of Ram ProMaster vans and giving them a European touch. I got to take a tour of a pair of new Westfalia vans and while I found myself disappointed in their lofty price tags, I was pleased by the quality. Let’s dive in!
The world of camper vans is a weird one. The cheapest Winnebago van, the ProMaster-based Solis Pocket, is $140,375. If you want to get even cheaper, you can get a ProMaster-based Pleasure-Way Tofino for $94,250. That Pleasure-Way van is under six figures, barely, but you don’t even get any sort of bathroom. Yet, paying a ton of money doesn’t always seem to pay off, either. The Winnebago Revel, a 4×4 van based on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, has an interior befitting a $20,000 travel trailer, forget a $223,495 van.
Much of this problem comes from the vans themselves. The cheapest Ram ProMaster is $43,615, the cheapest Ford Transit is $51,130, and the cheapest Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is $49,999. Add more money to the Sprinter if you want to be able to stand up in it. These are expensive Class B RVs built on pricey vans.
If you’re going to be paying over $100,000 for a van with a bed and a toilet, I think the van should have an interior supporting that price. Westfalia has finally released the pricing for its new Wave camper van. The Wave starts at $155,333, or $165,707 if you want it with a pop-top, which places it at the high end of Ram ProMaster-based vans, but slightly cheaper than some Ford Transit-based vans and much cheaper than many Mercedes-Benz Sprinter-based vans. However, for that price you’re getting a genuinely nice place to stay with an interior that I find to be better than some more expensive vans.
New Wave
If you’re interested in reading about why the American return of Westfalia is a big deal, click here to read my previous entry on this van. Otherwise, what you need to know is that Westfalia left America in 2006. Back then, the last van in America to bear the iconic Westfalia name was the Dodge Sprinter Westfalia, which was distributed through Airstream. Sadly, Airstream only sold a few units before Westfalia went back to Europe.
Westfalia’s return to America is happening through Canadian RV manufacturer Roadtrek. See, France-based RV conglomerate Rapido Group, which has owned Westfalia since 2011, bought Roadtrek in 2019. Now that both companies are under the same umbrella, Westfalia had a way to get back to America. The company had already been building campers out of Fiat vans (the Ram ProMaster is also sold as the Fiat Ducato in Europe) since 2009. So, the pieces fell together. Now, Americans can buy Westys again.
The van for Westfalia’s new launch is the Wave, and it’s bringing a smart interior along for the ride. Westfalia is getting a lot of attention from attendees at the 2024 Florida RV SuperShow. I was surprised to hear some people commenting that they weren’t even aware that Westfalia had left. Perhaps that could be due to the fact that you can buy campers with pop-tops from all sorts of brands nowadays.
On the outside, the ProMaster Westys aren’t doing much. The vans are your standard fare ProMasters with a few exterior additions. Westfalia brought two vans to Tampa. One had a pop-top and one didn’t. Westfalia Americas’ representatives tell me that not everyone is interested in a pop-top, but still want the Westfalia experience. The base price of $155,333 is for a van without the pop-top. The addition of the top will cost you another $10,374.
The silver Westfalia Wave had side skirts, but that and the lack of a top were pretty much it for differentiation. Otherwise, you’re getting the same front-wheel-drive 20′ 9″ Ram ProMaster 3500 with its 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 making 276 horses and 250 lb-ft of torque.
Inside is where the magic happens. When you step through the sliding door you’ll be happy to see a high-quality interior. It’s not super luxurious, but it’s miles ahead what you’ll get from a more expensive Winnebago. I also think the fit and finish is better than what you’ll find in the $147,570 Airstream Rangeline.
Westfalia does not say what materials are being used here, but they feel solid with some heft. The cabinets are thick and their doors have robust latches. The countertop and floor also felt pretty good. This is a sort of place you can feel really cozy in. There are also a lot of cubbies and soft-close drawers to store things in, which can help keep down on clutter.
Westfalia does say that the seats are leatherette, but they’re also pretty nice. The front seats swivel to give you a sort of living room while the second row quickly and easily folds into a bed. I was able to convert the seating into a bed with just one hand! Westfalia says that this particular bed is a patented creation, so you won’t find it even in Roadtrek vans.
In the middle of the van is the kitchen and the bathroom. Now, the space here is pretty narrow, and I found myself rubbing my butt across the bathroom door. However, there’s some logic to this. You can stand in the shower wearing a Stetson and holding a laptop and still have room to spare. As many of you know, I hate tiny RV showers, so I was happy about that.
The standard Westfalia Wave has this same interior, but you get a skylight instead of a pop-top. When configured without a pop-top, there’s enough room to sleep four people. You’ll need the pop-top to sleep the advertised six people. However, remember that the van has just four seatbelts. So, you can sleep six people, but you aren’t taking all of them for the trip.
There’s some clever thinking going on in the rear, too. The rear bed has a passthrough for gear. Westfalia says you can configure the interior to carry tall items like bicycles and long items like skis, kayaks, or surfboards. Sadly, there is no roof storage, so that gear will be eating up some of your interior volume.
The lack of storage on the roof is due, at least in part, to the van’s systems. There are 600 Ah of lithium batteries and a 3,000-watt inverter. These batteries can be topped up with the 300 watts of solar on the roof, shore power, or the generator under the van’s hood. A Firefly Integrations control interface helps you monitor these systems.
Equipment includes a Truma Combi furnace and water heater system, a roof-mounted air-conditioner, a two-burner propane cooktop, a Vitrifrigo refrigerator, a microwave, and a cassette toilet in the wet bath. Optional equipment includes an upgrade to an induction cooktop and an extension for the cushions for the center convertible bed.
Pricey, But Competitive
The options shown at the Florida RV SuperShow were short and included different exterior colors, black wheels, and a blacked-out grille. The pop-top van as configured in my photos was $167,616. Options on that one were blacked-out trim for $1,200, the cushion extension for $390, and an induction stove for $319.
I think the biggest strength of the new Westfalia Wave is the interior. Depending on the van you compare it to, the Westfalia Wave comes out pretty far ahead. Certainly, it’s better than some of the other vans I’ve toured here with harsher price tags. Still, I would have loved to see that interior with a lower price. At least for now, if you want a cool van with a nice place to sleep, you either have to pay to play or build one yourself.
Either way, it’s great to Westfalia back in America and it’s taking a big swing with this van. Time will tell if the brand manages to capture a market.
(Images: Author)
so that’s more than my first house, by about the amount of a new Ford Maverick..
can still get a house for that price in the midwest.
It’s very nice but I don’t understand how they can be selling these. How many people have that kind of coin ?
thought I was going to get a Ford Transit for my retirement stealth camper, not at that price. It’s the Maverick with a tarp off the back..
$167,616? Seriously? For a stinking Fiat? For that much I can buy a clean used Prevost.
I don’t have anything of substance to add–I just wanted to say hi to Mercedes as a former Jalop.
So some automotive things are cheaper on this side of the pond.
This sort of campers, that do not have the fiberclass body on top of van chassis start around 50k€ (includes tax) in Europe. And top around 80k.
Also depending on which brand of camper and which country in the EU. Here in the Netherlands a Fiat based Hymer camper starts at 82k€, and that is the short version. Another populair brand here is Pössl, also starts around 85k€ in the Netherlands.
Yeah, car stuff varies a lot. Passanger cars are here in Finland are pretty epicly taxed, but campers are quite inexpensive.
I think I said it elsewhere, but I’m having a real hard time dropping this kind of coin on a Dodge/Fiat frame. In early Class B shopping, we basically move past anything on the ProMaster. I know Mercedes isn’t the quality it used to be, but I’d much rather roll the dice on a Sprinter. Plus I’d get the diesel torque to move the living room on wheels.
A lot of it really is on the automakers themselves, basic cargo vans have become stupidly expensive. I honestly don’t know how small businesses can swing buying one now, but I feel the same way with smaller farmers and modern pickups. We need an The MSRPS Are Too High third party
As someone working for a small business ( <10 people ) we really want and could make good use of a high top van but there’s no chance we can justify even a used one.
This piqued my curiosity, so I went down a rabbit hole.
Some vans have several cubic feet of unused space under the hood. For example, in the Sprinter community, it is not unusual to install a marine fresh-water heater under the hood that runs off of the engine’s cooling system. It would not be outside the realm of possibility to install a small generator, such as the tiny now-deprecated Honda 400 generator, under the hood.
After some digging, I found the “under-hood generator” mentioned here is a second alternator that attaches to the van’s engine. I could not find its output at engine idle. What I found emphasizes the “under-hood generator” charges the house batteries while the vehicle is underway, which implies the alternator is designed for RPMs above 1,500 or so.
It’s common to install a DC-to-DC charge controller in RVs, which charge the house batteries while travelling. I would guess a dedicated alternator would provide a greater charge rate than a DC-to-DC charge controller, but at a significantly higher cost.
I have to say I’m super impressed with this van even if I don’t have much love for the ProMaster itself. I also started the post thinking the price was too high, but after reading the list of features and looking at the pics, I think the price is right on target. I’m actually somewhat stunned to be saying that given my cheapness, but I might fork over my own cash for one. Love the 600AH batts and 300 Watts solar. Very smart.
I’ve been thinking about finishing out a cargo van and the layout in my head is strikingly similar. Basically identical. Given all the time I’d save not making a clone of it myself and judging by the apparent quality, it would be a no-brainer to buy one of these instead. Although I’d miss the pure fun of doing the build-out myself. Then again, I have about a ten year backlog of shit to do so the smart choice seems obvious.
Anyway, great post Mercedes!
How do these vans from Westfalia and others compare to buying a regular van and then having a smaller specialist company build it out for you? I am curious both in terms of price and quality.
Westfalia and Winnebago sell you what they think you want. With a specialist company, you give them the specs and they tell you what they’re capable of building. Inspect the work by the name brands and local builders, and that will guide your decision.
It comes down to your expected use case. More than two people? Then a C-class is probably what you need. Want luxury? Then look at A-class. If a van is the right size for your needs, then go back to your needs list. If you want/need four seasons, then focus on insulation, how your fresh water is stored, and four-wheel drive. If you expect to explore warmer areas, such as the US south, then you will need air conditioning and an external generator, such as a Honda 2200, and two-wheel drive will probably be fine.
We off-road on forest service roads in all seasons, and need 4WD, which focused our build decisions.
The great thing about a specialist company is that you can get exactly what you want. Want your Sprinter to look like it’s the 1970s inside? A specialist can do that. Need the shower even bigger? A specialist can do that. A lot of firms build van interiors by hand, too, so the quality is great.
A potential downside is that you may be left figuring things out for yourself when things break. Custom vans also get pretty outrageously expensive, depending on the builder. Some builders also churn out a handful of vans a year, so there may be a long wait.
You would go with a Winnebago, a Thor, or a Westfalia or whatever because you’re fine with the layouts and features they have, want a van now, and want to have access to potentially a nationwide service network.
The 2 rear seats look like a miserable place for two people to endure a road trip, but I imagine the buyers of these will be wealthy empty nesters or carefree trustafarians.
I’ve owned a Vanagon Westfalia and now own one of the 2006 Sprinter Westfalias. Westfalia has never aimed at the bottom of the camper van market, but their interiors are better designed and use much higher quality materials than anything else in their price class. My main concern with this van is the chassis, I’m afraid that reliability will be closer to the Vanagon’s than the T1N Sprinter’s.
In the sentence “closer to the Vanagon’s than the T1N Sprinter’s” I’m not sure which one you’re insulting. Will this meal be as healthy as McDonalds or will it be closer to Burger King?
Thank you for reviewing this for us. There’s no way I can afford this, but I was very curious about it.
Do you think they’ll make a version based on the Pacifica?
It does look quite nice compared to the competition in this segment. I still prefer a trailer with a truck, so I can leave the campground to sightsee or get supplies without breaking camp, but that’s just my preference. These always seem so pricy for what you get though. Not a lot of space for the money.
This sounds like something I could do if the list price is different than the sales price. I went to an RV show a couple of weekends ago and the prices seemed heavily discounted as compared to list.
At these prices, I guess the best way to reframe it, is to think of them as 21st century yachts, sailing the wild, wide asphalt seas of North American.
Because there is no way in hell I’d buy this over an R8 or Godzilla.
Jeepers.
That’s actually some decent framing! The vans are little yachts while Class As are mega yachts. The Coleman from earlier today is like a steel fishing boat. lol
Exactly!
The big black front end with massive jowl-vents is unfortunate. It’s as if they told an intern she had 4 days to translate a Ram Truck Intimidator(TM) flat grill into 3D to fit a van.
Not the friendly capable look I want in a Westy (but, as always, I am not their market)
The van was designed to survive actual work in urban environments where the exterior takes a beating. Function over form.
Fair enough. It’s just that the head-on seriously reminds me of what I dubbed the Ram Tough Nostril Grill on the trucks some years back—except the elongated jowls really seemed egregious
Oh I agree it’s hideous, I can’t believe they couldn’t come up with something better looking that served the same purpose.
Amazingly, the Ram guys were not responsible for the jowls; it’s on the original Fiat as well (google Fiat Ducato).
Ok, honestly laughed at that. I stand corrected—and appreciate it 🙂