RV parks with limits ?

[Danny Bell]

Some friends of ours just returned from a month of snow birding in AZ. They have a two year old "white toaster" variety trailer and a new Toyota Tundra.

One RV park they stayed at had a 10 year old or less age limit on the trailers that they allow to stay at their park ! WOW, I've never heard of this before ! Another RV park they stayed at wouldn't allow pickups with cab over campers ! I.M.O., this sucks !!! I'm sure all of us vintage AS people would agree that our classics far out class all of the "white toasters" ! Don't take me wrong, I like ALL trailers but nothing out classes an AS,IMO, old or new ! The times the wife and I have stayed at RV parks (we boondock most of the time), some people with more money invested in their motor homes than I'm worth, come up to us and want to see the inside of our old "66" AS and pet our beautiful bird dogs. Their comments are usually, "VERY COOL, WHAT A CLASSIC !" That night we will sometimes bar-b-que some quail or pheasant that we bagged and take them a taste. They usually offer spirits in return and a friendship is made ! Gotta love it !!!

I really don't understand the RV park limit thing...

Dan

[moosetags]

The RV and tow vehicle restrictions that you are talking about are not real common but do exist. We tow our Airstream with a truck camper rig. We have been turned away at two different campgrounds because of our truck camper. Of they don't want my money that's OK. Both times that this happened I camped for free in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

Brian

[KJRitchie]

Most older campers are not well maintained so these parks just put out blanket rules. I guess they could publish exceptions but then its more work for them. They probably have enough business with those rules. After all, it their business and they're taking all the risks so they get to make the rules.

We've all been to RV parks that are struggling that have a lot of transient or temporary workers to try to make ends meet. In a couple of years my Airstream will be 10 years old. Since mine looks like most new Airstreams I would just tell them its a newer model.

Kelvin

[jcanavera]

I've only run into 2 in all my years of towing. One of those when the guy asked, he looked out the window and said, "oh you have an Airstream, we don't need to ask".

Jack

[PharmGeek]

This may be a dumb question...and it really is not rhetorical but an honest one...

What does such a rule do to help a business?

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

This may be a dumb question...and it really is not rhetorical but an honest one...

What does such a rule do to help a business?

This type of restriction is often found in private "resort type" RV parks where snowbirds gather for the winter for an extended period of time (i.e., several months.) It lets them turn away people who have ratty old SOB TT's & RV's without an argument. Many (but of course not all) SOB's over 10 years old can be a mess (of course, that's why a lot if us bought Airstreams.) This characterization does not include vintage campers that have been maintained or restored.

My guess is that the presence of these ratty old campers affects the sensibilities of the more snobbish "campers" (i.e., those who spent $500,000 plus on their Class A Prevosts and Winnebagos) and by keeping out the "riff-raff," the park owners are making life more "comfortable" for the Class A owners and their kind.

I've not run into this (our Airstream is only a year old) and I've also been told that the rule is often not enforced with Airstreams.

The truck camper thing has me baffled. Are truck campers really supposed to be an inferior species?

[Phoenix]

I suspect the 10-year rule is only enforced if a rig looks like a prop from the "Beverly Hillbillies". I've seen vintage Airstreams in many commercial campgrounds, and I doubt if they were even asked about the model year.

[moosetags]

Yes, truck campers are considered by some to be at the shallow end of the RV gene pool.

Brian

[AnnArborBob]

Originally Posted by moosetags

Yes, truck campers are considered by some to be at the shallow end of the RV gene pool.

Brian

LOL. I hear that the water is warmer at the shallow end!

[ckottum]

We've seen it. I suspect you would get a pass if your rig looked decent. Also seen restrictions on minimum camper length such as truck campers or tiny campers.

And no more than one camper per site, such as a truck camper pulling a trailer; perhaps you could convince them you are only using one if the check-in guy has the authority to say okay (and another camper doesn't complain "what about the rules for me?").

The timeless look of an Airstream in good condition probably makes it a moot point.

cheryl k

[moosetags]

We have been pulling our Airstream with our truck camper for almost 4 years now. We have only had one problem with a campground wanting to charge us double because we had "two RVs". Of all places, this was at the Airstream Park in Olympia, Washington. On top of that, they wanted us to pay the non-Airstream rate for the truck camper. We will never go back there again.

The other hundreds of campgrounds that we have stayed at have never even so much as mentioned the truck camper.

Brian

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

This may be a dumb question...and it really is not rhetorical but an honest one...

What does such a rule do to help a business?

I'm cynical by nature. Working for the Federal Government for over 30 years will make anyone cynical!

First rule of cynicism is, no one ever does anything that doesn't bring them some personal benefit. The "what's in it for me?" philosophy, if you will.

So let's ask ourselves, what's in it for a campground owner that excludes over-10-year-old rigs? I've come up with a few possibilities.
1 - The campground operator is a snob who thinks that anyone who can't afford to trade in his rig every ten years is too low-class to associate with him. You never know, they might even steal someone's shore power cable or something!
2 - He thinks that since a 10-year-old rig is fully depreciated, it's going to be uninsured or under-insured, and his insurance liability will be higher in the event of an accident or incident.
3 - He thinks that since most older RVs really show their age, then older rigs make his nice campground look cheap and tawdry (I've stayed in Good Sam parks like this).
4 - His campground might BE cheap and tawdry, and he thinks newer rigs make his place look nicer (I've stayed in Passport America parks like this).

[PharmGeek]

In my mind, I assumed much like was described as a bunch of uber expensive class A folks at large - so a business that caters to their particular wants.

So in that hypothetical, if he/she allows the "rif-raff" in, then the bulk of your higher end clients may flock elsewhere? So maintaining uniformity by such discrimination may improve their particular bottom line?

I wonder though just how much this is a belief as opposed to a fact for such businesses.

Protag's comments make me wonder if its just a fickle belief by some vs. a cold calculated but ultimately much more profitable business decision.

Are these parks mentioned typically notably higher cost? So instead of say 25-35 dollars (or whatever the going rate for that region may be) - it is perhaps double or more that?

[Danny Bell]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

In my mind, I assumed much like was described as a bunch of uber expensive class A folks at large - so a business that caters to their particular wants.

So in that hypothetical, if he/she allows the "rif-raff" in, then the bulk of your higher end clients may flock elsewhere? So maintaining uniformity by such discrimination may improve their particular bottom line?

I wonder though just how much this is a belief as opposed to a fact for such businesses.

Protag's comments make me wonder if its just a fickle belief by some vs. a cold calculated but ultimately much more profitable business decision.

Are these parks mentioned typically notably higher cost? So instead of say 25-35 dollars (or whatever the going rate for that region may be) - it is perhaps double or more that?

Pharmgeek,

I asked my friend the same question relating to cost/night. $45 on up was the reply ! They hopped around southern AZ, I didn't ask exactly where the two RV parks were located. They spent the most time around Tucson so I'm guessing that was the local.

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

This may be a dumb question...and it really is not rhetorical but an honest one...

What does such a rule do to help a business?

It's a great question. Personal opinion here - it gives the RV park owner options AND might eliminate conflict before it starts (if people just say - well, forget THAT campground).

If you don't outright decline and your rig looks trashy or in disrepair, s/he has an option to prevent you from detracting from the experience of other campers and retain clientele by turning you away at the gate and you were forewarned. Of course - for clients who prefer a deeply lived in look, there must be sites to congregate as well and perhaps a park with restrictions on campers newer than 25 years would give that park options to attract and retain a target audience. Haven't seen one of those, though...

That way - if your rig is 50 years old an impeccably well maintained, you might be admitted to the 10 year or younger crowd at the discretion of the owner. And that's easier to communicate than - the park owner will determine your eligibility at time of arrival....

Mine is still 2 years old but if it looks this good at 11 and there's a restriction, I'd call first and send a picture. I wouldn't say it's younger than it is. If the discussion and picture aren't enough, there's another million places I can go. :-)

[drboyd]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I'm cynical by nature. Working for the Federal Government for over 30 years will make anyone cynical!

First rule of cynicism is, no one ever does anything that doesn't bring them some personal benefit. The "what's in it for me?" philosophy, if you will.
<snip>

"No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up." - Lily Tomlin

[Al - K4GLU]

It hasn't been mentioned yet but there are also a few campgrounds that have length restrictions - they won't accept RVs under a certain length usually 21-22 feet.

[mrfrank9]

I think it all has to do with appearances and perception.
We have only been asked once and i ignored the question and said we had an Airstream.

Secondly, there are a LOT of mobile workers due to the boom in oil and construction jobs. The TT they may live in is simply a means to an end; in which case it might not be very pretty.
This has nothing to do with how they conduct themselves or what kind of people they might be.

The park we are staying at has mostly working families and ALL of them are nice people who keep their sites neat, don't make any noise or trouble.
They go where the work is.
99.9% occupancy rate and average lease rate over $1400/mo. dont help either.

[kscherzi]

There's also a number of Class A only parks. Birds of a feather....

[moosetags]

And Airstream only parks.

Brian