Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
Bringing together local businesses and neighbor of the Tri-Cities region. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Skip Mauney helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around The Tri-Cities.
Is your business serving the residents of Tri-Cities? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpTri-Cities.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Tri-Cities
EP# 256: Protecting Your Mobile Castle: Why RV Inspections Matter with 5-Star RV Service
What makes Martie and Beth Roe with 5-Star RV Service a good neighbor?
Thinking about buying an RV? You'll want to hear what Martie and Beth Roe have to say first. These owners of Five Star RV Service join Skip Mauney to reveal insider knowledge that could save you thousands of dollars and countless headaches.
Did you know that brand new RVs arrive at dealerships only 80% complete? This startling revelation from Martie explains why even fresh-off-the-lot vehicles can have significant problems. "You don't want to be at a campsite and the black tank fall out on you," he warns, describing just one of the alarming issues they've discovered during pre-purchase inspections. From generators that haven't been properly broken in to potential plumbing disasters waiting to happen, the Roes have seen it all.
Drawing parallels to home inspections, Beth explains the crucial role of third-party inspectors in the RV buying process. Their company meticulously checks between 2,500-3,000 components across electrical, propane, water, and solar systems – specialized knowledge that crosses multiple disciplines. The timing of these inspections is critical, too. As Martie points out, dealerships are far more motivated to fix issues before you've paid than after you've driven away.
Beyond their technical expertise, the Rowes bring personal passion to their work. As RV owners themselves (they travel with grandkids in their Grand Design toy hauler), they understand the lifestyle intimately. They've even explored RV culture internationally, noting fascinating differences between American and Italian approaches during their recent European travels. "Everything over here bigger is better, everything over there smaller is better," Martie observes.
Ready to protect your investment and ensure your RV adventures start smoothly? Visit www.5starrvservice.com or call 866-5-STAR-RV to learn how Five Star RV Service can help you avoid costly mistakes and enjoy worry-free travels. Because as Skip concludes, "If you're willing to invest in an RV, you need to be willing to invest in this inspection."
To learn more about 5-Star RV Service go to:
https://www.5starrvservice.com/
5-Star RV Service
866-578-2778
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2:Well, hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. So today I am really excited to have several special guests in our studio and I'm sure you'll be just as excited as I am to learn all about them and their business, because today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbors, Mr Marty and Beth Rowe, who are the owner operators of Five Star RV Service. Marty, Beth, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3:Hello, thank you, thank you, skip.
Speaker 2:Well, we're, like I said, glad to have you, and I understand we also have Copper with us. He's just not in front of the camera, but if he decides to speak up, we'll let him talk too as well. Copper's, you told me what kind of dog is he?
Speaker 3:Cavapoo, cavalier King Charles and Toy Poodle yeah.
Speaker 2:Very good. That's the first time I've heard of that, but very interesting. So anyway, like I said, we're excited to learn all about you guys. So if you don't mind, why don't you kick us off by telling us about your business?
Speaker 4:Yeah, we started a five star RV service about five years ago and then we go around and then we inspect RVs I'm new and used and we also do repairs on them.
Speaker 2:Oh wow, you do inspections on site Like it does it matter if they're at a campsite or at home.
Speaker 4:No, no, we do them at home a campsite, and the best place to do them is actually at the RV dealership, before you purchase them.
Speaker 2:Oh, good point. Very good, very good point.
Speaker 4:Go ahead.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry.
Speaker 4:Yeah, all the RVs come to the dealership about 80% done, so the dealership's got a finished amount. So sometimes it doesn't get done all the way correct. So that way we can inspect before you purchase it and we can get them to fix stuff for you.
Speaker 2:And that is no small investment, so great idea.
Speaker 3:It's a whole lot like a home inspection. If you look at how expensive RVs are today compared to what they used to be, it is a huge investment, like you said. And so to get that inspection and to learn what is wrong with the RV before you purchase it, it's miraculous how much faster those things get fixed before you've actually bought it than if you try to get that done after the fact.
Speaker 2:After the fact that's exactly right. Wow, very interesting. Well, how did you guys get into this business?
Speaker 4:Well, back in, 2018, we bought our first camper and then we realized there was just not that you know, rv techs or RV inspectors in our area.
Speaker 3:Just how underserved our community was for RV techs and inspectors especially, you know. When we needed, you know, some help, we realized that it was just non-existent. Here is how we felt.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so we love helping people and helping our community out, so we started this and it's just been rolling on and just keeps on going.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, you know, rving is a growing thing. I think I used to see more and more of them on the road every day. It seems like I just drove from Western North Carolina to Washington DC and, man, there was a ton of them on the road. Yeah right, absolutely a ton of them. So do you guys have your own RV?
Speaker 4:Yeah, we do, we do. We've got a grand design. I'm a toy hauler right now because we've got grandbabies, so we get to put them in their area and just take them with us.
Speaker 2:All right, very nice, very nice. Well, what are some myths or misconceptions in the RV industry?
Speaker 4:Inspections. It's just like a. It's just like a home inspection. You would not want the seller of a house to have their own inspection person come in. So this way we're a third party inspector. So once a dealership says it's done, we'll come in there and inspect it. And then, once we get the inspection done, if you want us to take you to the campsite and teach you how to use your RVs, then we could help you out there also.
Speaker 3:And part of that when he's talking about the inspections and the misconception. A lot of people think when they're buying a brand new RV that everything is just perfect on that and, like he said earlier, they come to the dealership 80% finished and the dealership finishes that out and nothing against the dealership or anything. It's just there's a lot of little nuances there that get missed sometimes and if he can find that beforehand, it just makes your life a whole lot easier once you roll off the lot with that RV.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, I mean, good Lord, a brand new RV these days is six figures right, I mean yeah easy, easy. Well, is it a requirement to have them inspected like a like a home inspection?
Speaker 4:No, no, no, it's not, it's not required, it's just, it's just a really good practice, so that way you know, ever bolts tighten, ever, ever. But because this rv has electrical, propane, water, solar in it and there's not everybody who knows all those aspects at the same time with it tell them some of the things that you found on new ones that were okay, like just a couple weeks ago we found some with loose black tanks.
Speaker 4:You don't want to be at a campsite and the black tank fall out on you, so that's pretty important, or whatever. The biggest one we find is like on the motor homes dealerships not running generators. A generator's got to have so many hours for it to break in. Or the first time you start it up and you turn on the AC because you're down in a Florida somewhere and it's hot, turn on the AC and a generator breaks. You don't want that. And then just there's just a bunch of little small stuff.
Speaker 3:Plumbing and some plumbing.
Speaker 4:Yeah, plumbing issues this and that and the other. So, yeah, we get through all of it. We'll touch about anywhere from 2,500 to 3,000 pieces over.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, I have personal experience with plumbing on an RV, on an old RV, and it was not a fun experience at all. Kind of like that movie RV. I'm sure you've seen that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, one of our favorites?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I absolutely love that movie. Well, outside of work, what do you guys do for fun? I have a feeling I know.
Speaker 3:We love to travel. It's funny, we just got back from Italy. Oh wow, I will have to admit we did drive through a campground in Italy. Even though we weren't RVing while we were there, we just couldn't resist. We drove through that campground just to see how it was different and it was amazing to us just the different, different types of RVs that they had over there versus over here. But if we're not working, we're usually gone somewhere. She's with us sometimes.
Speaker 2:Of course, of course, very good, very good, very good, well. Um well, I'm curious are the rvs different in italy?
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, yeah, just the brand.
Speaker 4:I mean we didn't inspect one, but yeah, just the brand, the models, um how certain acs are on stuff where the axles are, because over in Italy there was small cars pulling little bitty pulling bigger RVs, but how they're set up, I mean it was good. And then the motorhomes they were like totally.
Speaker 3:They were like a compact mini motorhome, yeah yeah, just just smaller versions, where everything over here bigger is better, everything over there smaller is better, it seems.
Speaker 2:Right, wow, fascinating Italian RVs. Well, if, if you guys could think of one thing that you would like our listeners to remember about Five Star RV service, what would that be?
Speaker 3:I would think that it is the name Five Star. We worked really hard on branding our business before we started and I joked with Marty if we go with Five Star, you have to make sure that you keep five stars on Google. How embarrassing would that be if we don't have five stars? But at the end of the day, he really does enjoy helping people and being able to go in there. Maybe somebody has looked at something 10 times and he can walk in where he's experienced and he has looked at RVs day in and day out and he could tell them immediately what is wrong with it. It's fulfilling for him and so much so I have to fuss a little bit like okay, we're done working.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow, it's over, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Let's put some timeframes on our work hours, just because he does enjoy being able to help people find that. But the emphasis I would say is just you know to remember that we are a five-star RV service for a reason and that we go above and beyond to try to make sure we fulfill that.
Speaker 2:Awesome, very good thing to remember, so maintain five stars. So how can, if any of our listeners are interested or thinking about buying an RV, have an RV that they need to have inspected? How can they learn more? I?
Speaker 3:mean go to our website, 5starcom or whatever, or you can give us a call, it's www.5starrvservicecom, and that is with the number five, and we do have a couple of forms on there. If you need service, like a repair, there is a form you can fill out and it'll come to us. We tried to automate everything that we could for the business, and then there's also an inspection request form on there, or you can just call us. We've got a toll-free number that you can call us, which is actually 866-5-STAR-RV. That's the phone number too 866-5-STAR-RV.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Very good, all right. Well, marty, beth, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you guys taking time out of your busy schedule and taking you away from Copper and from your grandkids. Hopefully not, but I appreciate you getting on the show to tell me and our listeners all about what you do. And, very important, I can't imagine spending that much money on something and not wanting to use your service. So, listeners, you know, five-star RV service definitely got to check that out. If you're willing to invest in an RV, you need to be willing to invest in an rv. You need to be willing to invest in this inspection.
Speaker 3:save you a lot of money in the long run, I'm sure yes, for sure, absolutely appreciate you giving us the opportunity to talk a little bit about our business. We really appreciate that absolutely well.
Speaker 2:Maybe we can have you back sometime when you got something big going on sounds good all right. So much, guys, and we'll talk soon.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnptry-citiescom. That's gnptry-citiescom, or call 423-719-5873.