RV Living: Beware the RV Park 10-Year Rule

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Every RV owner gets attached to their vehicle. Your RV lifestyle is personalized to your motorhome or travel trailer and you’ve made sure to maintain it so it will last for years to come.

Just as you’ve planned a big RV trip someone tells you that you might run into trouble if your vehicle is more than 10 years old. What is this mysterious 10-Year Rule? Do you have to retire your rig after a decade or be turned away from the RV park?

Before you scramble to sell your beloved RV, let’s take a look at the rule and what it means for you.

The 10-Year Rule

The 10-Year Rule is exactly what it sounds like. Some RV parks choose not to allow any vehicle over 10 years old into the park. It is both legal and, for some RV Park owners, practical.

An RV park may choose to implement a 10-Year Rule to improve safety. They don’t want to have to inspect every vehicle that arrives and older RVs are more likely to have issues that can affect the whole park.

Park owners’ concerns include leaks and electrical problems.

More often, they simply don’t want run-down old RVs on the premises. They don’t like how it looks and they’re afraid the rigs will become a permanent part of the landscape as they deteriorate.

Making Sure Your Older RV is Welcome at the RV Park

We all know that an RV is not ready for the scrap heap after an arbitrary amount of time. A neglected five-year-old vehicle can look far worse, and be more of a safety hazard, than a 50-year-old converted vintage bus.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the 10-Year-Rule and what it really means for your RV lifestyle.

The Rule is Seldom Used

Although any RV park may have a 10-Year-Rule (depending on state and local regulations), very few of them do.

One survey found only about 3% of RV parks reporting a strict 10-Year Rule, with an additional 1% upping that number to 15 years. Parks were more likely to have and enforce the rule if they were upscale or offered stays of a month or more.

The Unwritten Rule

The same survey found that almost 80% of parks said that they want to make sure an older vehicle was in good shape before allowing it entrance. This was a small survey of fewer than 100 parks.

There are more than 15,000 public and private places to park your RV in the United States. 3-4% of that is a lot of parks and campgrounds. If you own an older RV, be proactive Check the policies of RV parks you’re considering. Better yet, call ahead so you don’t encounter an unpleasant 10-Year Rule surprise.

Exceptions to the Rule

Just as parks are free to make rules about the age of the RVs they allow, they are also free to make exceptions. And most of them do, particularly for renovated vintage RVs.

The rule is often more about the condition of your RV than its age.

If you have a 16-year-old motorhome that has been meticulously maintained, you’re much less likely to be denied entrance even if a park has a 10-Year Rule policy in place.

A beautifully renovated Airstream is more likely to be allowed than a faded 11-year-old Winnebago. Remember, the big issues here are safety and appearance. When you make your reservation, tell them if you have an older RV. They may ask for a picture.

Be honest. If you send an outdated picture you may find yourself turned away at the entrance.

Maintain, Maintain, Maintain!

We talk about maintenance a lot. And you should think about maintenance a lot. Excellent maintenance makes you more likely to be allowed into any park regardless of the age of your coach or 5th Wheel.

If you have an older vehicle like an Alfa Class A that you love, consider custom upgrades. RV repair and maintenance will help your vehicle perform beautifully for a long time. But at some point, you should consider upgrades to rid your rig of outdated components and technology.

Don’t sell your beloved RV the minute it turns 10. Instead, maintain it so that it always looks and runs like new. Be prepared, diligent, and honest so that you can be the exception to the rule at the RV park or campsite of your choice.