After being contacted by a forum member who was thinking of buying one, it occurred to me it might be worth doing a mini review of mine as there is very little information out there even now and there was virtually nothing when I ordered mine July 2016 after seeing one at the NEC show. I have only ever seen one other on the road. So after cleaning 16 billion Lake District bugs from the inside and outside of the van today I decided to put this together for anyone interested, and to try and help anyone in the future who needs more information.
It finally arrived after a 7 month wait in Feb 17 and I've done 8500 miles since (it's used only as a camper not an everyday vehicle). The Club Joker is done in two versions, a LWB with a hardtop and the SWB poptop City. Westfalia have had a bit more market penetration and publicity recently having released the MB Marco Polo and finally getting round to introducing RHD versions of the Kepler. It's a bit of an oddity in that it's based on a German spec van with the sliding door on the drivers side, like the Cali, but unlike the Cali it's initially ordered from VW as a special conversion-ready semi-finished panel van which they then spec up to just short of Highline spec, inc comfort dash, aircon and swivellling captains seats (plus any ordered options) before converting it themselves. I don't know the make of the roof or whether they make it themselves. Because of the layout, it's front hinged.
Mine is Indium Grey 150DSG and was ordered with the following options
Power assist sliding door
Adaptive cruise control
Magnetic shower curtain
Front seat bed (as standard it only comes with the poptop bed)
Parking sensors front and rear
Camper outdoor package - this is a leg to convert the indoor table to a freestanding outdoor one and 2 chairs in a bag that attaches to the inside tailgate. Anyone who's seen
@CaliforniaCamping review of the Kepler One will have seen Sean and Lizzie comparing them to the Cali ones. And although the chairs are high quality, they were absolutely right, they're not as good as the Cali's and the packaging in the big bulky bag just doesn't work in the Westfalia, it blocks too much at the back due to the layout. Because of this, mine has never been used in anger and still sits in the spare room where it's been since I first got the van - complete waste of £250!
Canopy awning (thinks it's a Fiamma but all branding has been removed)
Alarm - I'll come to that later
I didn't upgrade the stereo from the basic as I fully intended to put an aftermarket one in, which I still haven't done. It also came with 16" steelies which I didn't upgrade as I wanted Devonports and it was cheaper to buy a set from Ebay than order them from factory.
Since getting it I've added the Devonports, sound deadening, Rainbow door speakers and tweeters, my old JL Audio amp in readiness for that replacement stereo, B14 suspension, H&R ARBs, cab curtains, Heko deflectors, front and rear dash cams and 360 camera.
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The front seat/bed has Isofix mounting points, which I wanted for when I take my grandaughter away, and when it's folded over into a bed, which requires both front seats swivelling by at least 90 degrees, it has a mattress about 4" thick over a flat board. She sleeps on it without problems, though when she's tired she could probably sleep on a girder, but I've found it very comfortable on the occasions I've slept downstairs and I'm a bit "Princess and the pea" when it comes to sleep comfort. It's a bit wider than a single bed but not quite wide enough for 2 adults, though 2 kids would probably be ok, especially if they topped and tailed. The table is white gloss to match the decor and clips on to a rail as per usual. When not in use it stores on the inside of the slding door. The fridge is the usual Dometic and it has an Eberspacher with the outlet behind the driver's seat. There is some storage below the rear seat for tools and stuff like that, but it can only be accessed by flipping it up. It doesn't have the normal VW windows, instead they've fitted caravan/motorhome style double glazed plastic windows that hinge at the top. These have built-in blinds and flyscreens.
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The roof bed is huge and has a fairly thin cold foam mattress helped out by the plastic Frohli "sleep system" springs which make it as comfortable as a thicker mattress. They've had to do this as the roof wouldn't allow a thicker one, which means none of the bedding, other than a sheet, can be left up there which is a shame, it would have been good if at least the duvet could live up there.
Opposite the fridge is the worktop housing a 2 burner hob and a tiny round sink which is only just big enough to be usable. In fact without the plastic bowl I found, which just fits and can be filled then lifted onto the worktop, it would be very awkward. Behind this is a handy storage rack.
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There is quite a lot of storage in cupboards, drawers and the large curved tambour section at the front. The cupboard below that hides the hot water storage tank but has space for shoes/walking boots too. Yes it has hot water, it takes about 15-20 mins for the electric element to heat it up and holds enough for one shower - just. I usually try and switch it on while I'm moving to save battery but have used it when stationary and it doesn't massacre the leisure battery too badly.
The back of the unit contains the gas locker and the water tank filler. The tap head pulls out to form the shower, which can either suction to the inside of the tailgate for use outside, or can be used inside by means of a large plastic wraparound shower curtain that hangs from clips in the roof and secures with magnets at the base. This is a bit awkward to use and difficult to get the shower curtain dry afterwards, but it is usable. The shower tray has 2 plugholes to allow for uneven ground and is covered by two floor boards when not in use.
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The door on the left is access to the cassette from the toilet. The seat hinges up and clips out of the way when in use. By the way, that door isn't a weird colour, it's just the reflection of the gravel.
Above the toilet is a deceptively large cupboard that goes right down to floor level inside and swallows up loads of stuff. On the wall above it is the control unit for the heating, fridge and readouts for clean and waste water levels, internal temperature and clock/timer alarm.
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To its right, above the fridge, is another drawer and above this is a shallow storage tray with a mirror on the inside of the lid.
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It has LED lighting throughout, accessible by switches by the sliding door, including flexible reading lights in the roof bed.
So I'll come to the negatives I've found, all of which have been base van related.
First of all, it didn't come with a switch to lock the doors in the drivers door - I had to fit and wire one into the BCM, not something you want to do on a brand new van, especially when you don't know what you're doing, so thanks again for the guidance
@Pauly
Then, more annoyingly, I found it didn't have deadlocking or internal sensors on the alarm! The trials and tribulations of how I tackled this are well documented in threads on this forum if anyone needs the details so I'm not going to go through it here. Suffice it to say I have found ways of solving these problems and am extremely grateful for all the contributions and suggestions from forum members on tackling the problems I've had.
The next problem was a failure, while away on holiday of the crappy split charging relay that Westfalia had fitted. In the end I decided not to go down the warranty route as the fix wasn't anywhere near as good as changing to a proper DC-DC charger, so I bought and fitted a CTEK250DSA, again documented on the forum, and which charges vastly more efficiently than the factory setup.
And that's my van. I know it's a bit of an oddball choice and I know anyone with a brain would have just bought a Cali (they're both around the same price). I also know that many will say that by trying to cram all the facilities of a motorhome into a SWB van it's just too cluttered. But that's fine, because of all these facilities and the ability it gives of being entirely self-contained, it suits me perfectly and that's what we're all about isn't it, getting a van that exactly suits our needs?
