Yes, you can park at Costco overnight. Generally, Costco stores want you to park furthest away from the store so that shoppers can park closer. But not all cities and not all Costco’s allow overnight parking.
Can You Park at Costco Overnight?
Most Costco stores seem to welcome RVs parking in their lots overnight. But a minority of them do not. You can always call a specific store and ask, but often times whoever answers the phone doesn’t always know the policy.
Your best bet is to check various apps and websites and read reviews. Allstays.com seems to have the most reviews of Costcos.
City Laws May Prevent Overnight Parking or Sleeping in Vehicles
Many large cities have banned overnight parking for certain hours of the night, often times from 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM. It doesn’t matter if you’re on private property, including shopping centers. So while the Costco doesn’t mind you parking in their lot, local law enforcement can still cite you.
Many cities are also adopting laws against sleeping in your vehicle, regardless of where in the city you are parked.
Keep in mind that Costco is not open 24 hours. Hence, local law enforcement can easily swing by around 9:00 or 10:00 PM, and cite anyone who’s still in the parking lot. A 24-hour Walmart is often a better alternative for overnight parking, making it difficult for law enforcement to know if you’re sleeping inside or shopping at the store.
Do You Need a Membership to Park Overnight at Costco?
No. Membership is only needed to shop at Costco or buy gasoline.
How Safe is it to Park Overnight at Costco?
Not any more or any less than parking overnight at Walmart. The only difference is that Costco stores typically close by 8:30 PM during the week, and 6:00 PM on weekends. Hence, by the time you get into the late evening hours, the parking lot empties out. On the other hand, Costco parking lots are also attractive areas for kids with muscle cars. They love to gather there, do burn outs, and then head off to some place else.
It largely depends on the neighborhood as to how safe it is.
Costco in Concord towed my truck that was parked in there parking lot for no more than 1hr 15 min. Upon talking to the store manager and the police the manager asked me to surrender my costco card and cancelled my membership. I was told the problem is now a civil matter and I need to sue Costco, I was upset when I learned that Costco told the tow company my truck was abandoned. 1 hr 15 min I was there.
The Costco’s in Idaho do not allow you to park overnight. They have lot security personnel that will drive around and tell you it’s private property and you need to leave. The police will also cruise through the parking lot. I’m not sure where the op got this information but it is incorrect. There may be a few Costco’s out there and the warehouse manager does not mind but as a general rule Costco is very particular about their private property.
No in Matthew’s n.c.
The Costco in Apex, NC says that if a vehicle is parked for more than 12 hrs they WILL tow. They check the parking lot at least hourly. Definitely not 2 or more nights.
The security company I work for provides services for Costco and I have worked these locations for many years. The exact policy of Costco is that no overnight parking is allowed unless it is a delivery driver, that is corporate policy. However, as each location is ran individually by their managers, a lot of the times it is managers discretion whether they allow campers or not. My suggestion would be to call and speak with a manager, or do so once you arrive if the location is still open, then be sure to get the managers name if permission is given. We will ask person’s to leave property after hours if no permission was given by a manager.
As for towing, not sure about some other comments here and again, each location is different, but we usually do not remove vehicles that are believe to have been abandoned for a couple days at least. I don’t suggest you just leave your car, it does run the risk of being towed if left without permission, but from my years of experience, not less than three days has a vehicle been towed from the site we service.
Hope this helps, take care!
I didn’t know that you could park overnight at Costco! That’s really helpful information for travelers and road trippers. Thanks for sharing this tip with your readers, it will definitely come in handy when planning my next adventure.