The RV Park 10-Year Rule: What It Is & How To Avoid It Being A Problem

You may have heard about the “RV Park 10-Year Rule” that can make owners of vintage RVs a bit annoyed, and understandably so. There are lots of fine older RVs on the road. Heck, we’ve got friends with an RV in great condition that’s nearly 25 years old. And our own Newmar motorhome was more than 18 years old when we sold it, and at the time of the sale, it was (if we do say so ourselves) in excellent shape.

So, what is this so-called “10-year rule,” and how does it usually play out for owners of RVs that are more than a decade old? Are older rigs really turned away from campgrounds and RV parks? Is there a lot of RV age discrimination going on out there?

In this post, we examine the reality of the 10-year rule and identify who should be concerned about its enforcement.

What Is the “RV Park 10-Year Rule”?

The “10-Year Rule” for RV parks says that RVs older than 10 years may be more closely scrutinized and can be turned away from the park. We recognize that ten years isn’t all that old for an RV. We lived the full-time RV lifestyle in a 2005 Newmar Mountain Aire that was nearly two decades old when we sold it to downsize to our current travel trailer.

We kept our 18-year-old Newmar Mountain Aire in great shape as the years rolled on, and it was still looking sharp when we sold it to downsize to a travel trailer for part-time use.

However, this is a somewhat arbitrary number chosen to allow parks to turn away rigs that haven’t been well cared for over the first decade of their lives and beyond.

In reality, the RV park 10-year rule is a screening device.

Why Do RV Parks Have a 10-Year Rule?

The “10-Year Rule” was established by campground owners and owners of RV resorts to keep old, poorly maintained motorhomes and travel trailers from parking on their property (especially long-term). Similar to an unkempt sticks & bricks house in a residential neighborhood, broken down old rigs can create an environment unsuitable for a commercial property. Other travelers are deterred from staying in a park where people neglect their homes-on-wheels, creating an atmosphere that feels like a low-quality park.

So, RV park owners and campground park managers began to implement a standard for the rigs that would spend time in their parks. To set that standard, they chose an age at which they would more closely examine the condition of an older RV.

This 1998 Roadtrek 190 Popular is nearly a quarter-century old! But it’s still in good enough shape to have never been turned away from any RV park. We’re proud of our dear friend who owns it for giving it so much love!

How Do You Get Around the RV Park 10-Year Rule?

The easiest way to get around the RV park 10-year rule is to take very good care of your RV. Case in point, even at more than 18 years old when we sold it, our Newmar had never been turned away from any RV park or campground… including those that had 10-Year Rules. But we tried to take exceptional care of our motorhome, and despite its age, it was not an eyesore. The appearance of our rig suggested (rightly) that we respected it, so we were also likely to be respectful of RV resort and campground rules in terms of keeping our campsite clean as well.

And this is true of most RVers. The truth is that VERY few RVs are ever actually turned away from parks. Essentially, campgrounds and RV parks just don’t want Cousin Eddie showing up in his rig from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!

If you’re concerned about the 10-year rule, have a look at our post on the 5 best wash and wax products for your RV. These products from Meguiar’s are a couple of our favorites:

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You can also check out both maintenance and appearance tips in our post about RV spring cleaning. Also, the following video shares an additional way we keep our rig looking good in between our own wash & wax applications:

You may also want to bookmark our post on 7 RV maintenance tasks you can do yourself, because it’s also important to keep your rig well maintained. After all, no RV park owner wants smoking generators or oil and other fluids leaking all over the property!

Do Some RV Resorts and Campgrounds Refuse to Let Older RVs Stay?

Here’s what typically happens:

• When you call to make a reservation at a campground or RV park or resort, they may ask you the age of your RV (or they’ll ask you the year of your RV and figure it out from there).
• If you’ve got a rig that’s more than 10 years old, they may ask you to send them a photo of your rig. In fact, you’ll want to have such a photo handy on your phone or tablet so that you can email it right to them if requested.
• In some locations, they won’t ask for a photo… they’ll simply glance at your rig when you show up.

CAN they deny you a campsite? Yes. WILL they deny you a campsite? It’s unlikely, if your rig is in good condition.

Have You Ever Run Into the RV Park 10-Year Rule?

If you’ve ever experienced the 10-year rule in your RV travels, drop us a comment and tell us about it!

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