Wayfinder RV GoPlay 26BH - a new brand, a new way to sell RVs
Today’s honest RV review is of the 2023 Wayfinder RV Go Play 26BH.
Who is Wayfinder RV?
Wayfinder RV is actually a house brand for RV dealership Bish’s RV. This is actually a new venture for the dealership chain. As such they’ve partnered with Jayco on this effort and utilized their Starcraft brand’s products to serve as their own.
So if they’re essentially just Starcraft products, why not buy one of those?
Any RV company out there spends a tremendous amount of money hiring RV representatives to pitch their products to dealerships. These reps earn commissions on everything that’s sold and so they regularly jet around their territory meeting with dealerships and educating salespeople on the advantages of their products.
There is a huge cost in doing this. How much? One of the reps we had when I was working at the dealership earned over a million dollars a year. And you’ve got to think that he was just one rep in one territory. This is a huge bit of overhead that gets baked into the price of the product. And just one cost of running an RV company.
By having their own branded products Bish’s can eliminate a lot of these costs.
Educating the sales team can be done digitally and the videos Josh Winters are, quite honestly, generally better than what most of the reps do based on my own experience working at a dealership.
Further, if you buy one of these Wayfinder RVs I would imagine that any Bish’s could service it wherever you go, so long as there’s a Bish’s.
What about parts and service?
So you might ask yourself what happens if Bish’s disappears or they just decide this isn’t a place they want to be. Who works on the RV then? Who provides repair parts?
This is an extremely valid question.
But not one to worry about, quite frankly. Within the RV industry the brand you see on RVs is only the company that assembled the parts. These parts come from a variety of huge suppliers that are common in the industry.
For example, there are only a few companies that make stoves and ovens, refrigerators, air conditioners, chassis, doors, windows, upholstery and much of everything else in an RV.
The Go Play 26BH is almost identical to the Jayco Jay Flight SLX8 264BH that I reviewed here.
These are what are referred to as “stick and tin” trailers so they’re wood-framed with an aluminum skin. Essentially Jayco/Starcraft takes the parts that they buy from these major suppliers, cuts the wood and skins the trailers.
They do make the cabinets themselves, too, and someone chooses interior and exterior colors and that sort of thing.
But the company that made the furnace, stove, refrigerator, water pump, chassis and pretty much everything else that can break and need repair will still be in business even if things change.
In fact while many RVs have one-year warranties, the manufacturers of many of the subsystems have longer warranties so if you register these products you often have a better warranty than you thought. Though these have the same one year end-to-end warranty and three year structural warranty as the Jayco and Starcraft product.
In other words, while it might seem like a legitimate concern to buy from a new brand it really isn’t. This is particularly true in these wood-framed, metal-skinned trailers where you can find everything in them at an RV parts supplier.
What’s the value proposition?
I had mentioned what a surprise it was how much the Jayco and Starcraft products have gone up in price in just the two years since I reviewed them last. So I was really surprised when I saw that Bish’s was selling this model for $19,995.
But one of the most incredible aspects of the price of these is that it’s consistent nationwide. That is unheard of. The reason for this is that shipping costs have gone through the roof and the dealership itself pays the shipping - which means you pay the shipping. But, apparently, Bish’s has been able to work this into the price.
Another thing that’s unheard of is that Bish’s gives you 72 hours to decide if you love the RV. If not, you can return it, no questions asked. Further, if you just want something different within the 72 hour window they will honor what you paid toward something else.
House-brand RVs
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this. For example, there are numerous dealerships that sell their own versions of existing products. One particular example of this is Camping World who has exclusivity to the brand Coleman when it comes to RVs. That company has also announced that it will offer RVs with other familiar brands including Eddie Bauer.
Wayfinder Go Play 26BH
There are some unique features in this RV that are exclusive to the brand. For example, instead of just a curtain separating the bedroom from the main living space there is a wall and that wall has a mirror on it to make the trailer feel a bit larger.
They’ve also put both USB and household outlets at each of the bunk positions, a nice touch.
Something I noticed that I really liked was the water fill point on this trailer. It is similar to the overly complicated Nautilus system in some campers, particularly fifth wheels, but is far less complicated. I also like that the fill points are all behind a lockable door to keep them clean as you shuttle down the road.
Josh the RV Nerd (Josh Winters)
Further, I would argue that Josh Winters, the video face of Bish’s RV, is one of the more knowledgeable RV presenters out there. He actually camps, his family has been in the RV business for two generations and he follows what commenters on his videos are saying very closely.
I literally don’t know anybody better suited to influence RV changes more than Josh Winters. Of course he’s not the only one at Bish’s but having someone with that big a following who knows what he’s talking about can’t hurt in how this brand evolves.
“You are the product managers of this brand,” said Winters in a video introducing the line.
The company showed several models in a “sneak preview” setting and have already made changes to them based on real world suggestions.
What I would suggest in the Wayfinder GoPlay 26BH
There are some things I would change in this RV. As regular readers know, I am no fan of the small ovens. If Bish’s has the chance to influence Jayco into stepping up with a real oven, I would be thrilled.
Also, cheap vent fans do nobody a service. So a better vent fan either standard, or as an option, would be a plus as well.
Lastly, I do not like the pole-mounted tables. I much prefer the free-standing tables as I pointed out in the Rockwood Mini Lite 2507s review that that model has.
Most importantly, I know Jayco already is working with a supplier to provide Goodyear Endurance tires and I would like to see them here as well.
Buy online
For all of us a lot of what we buy is bought on line. This trailer offers the very unusual aspect of the fact that you can, in fact, buy one on line. It will then be shipped to your nearest Bish’s RV dealer, run through that company’s PDI, and delivered to you. As in delivered to your front door. Or to the campsite. Or wherever. This is truly unusual.
Listen to our podcast episode about choosing an RV with Josh the RV Nerd
My thoughts
Would I buy one of these? Yes. In fact I think the value is overwhelming here. For the money and features along with the three year warranty and the 72 hour return policy I think this represents a huge value proposition. I would have no qualms about recommending one of these trailers to someone for whom this floor plan works.
And that’s another point. A study cited by Winters in a video said that most customers choose from only a few different floor plans. If you build the most popular floor plans and build them in batches, it costs less to build. Henry Ford kind of had the same idea. Remember “you can have any color so long as it’s black?” This was because it was cheaper to paint all the Model Ts the same color and black dried the fastest, so you got black ones and only black ones.
Telephone game
The way most RV decisions are made is from the top down. Some manager at an RV company decides something and it gets built. The reps then go and try to get the dealerships to sell it.
Customers talk to salespeople who talk to dealership decision makers who talk to reps who share what is said with their companies. But, for anyone who has played the “telephone” game you know how this type of communication is the worst way to share good ideas with the people who can influence them.
Further, most RV decisions makers never go camping. Read that statement again. It’s a sad truth of the RV industry.
So having a product that is influenced by the people who communicate directly with customers and who are campers themselves will make make an ever bigger difference in my opinion.
I think Bish’s has a unique opportunity to make a difference here when you combine their listening to customers with the ability to order on line. I’m a fan.
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