Jakkom, any discoveries from Long term Five Star users?

Nada. Sigh....

My general impression over the years is that owners have been fairly pleased for the money. Like it's well worth the look if this is the level of stretch to the budget.

Rick Bayless endorses Five Star. Looks like another option to consider for a pro-style residential range... http://www.fivestarrange.com/testimonials

Five Star has a tiny market share and has not done much marketing since the 1990s except for hiring Rick Bayless for endorsement. I think the problem is that the Five Star brand is a very small sideline for
the Tennessee-based Brown Stove Works. The Brown company mainly manufactures very
basic appliances that are mostly are sold to rebranders (e.g., Summit)
and to large-project landlords such as public housing agencies. Not
much to these units, so not a lot to go wrong apart from physical damage.
Pretty much the same story with the Five Star line except that the stove
top burners are bigger.

The market share is so small that even when the subject of a forum thread is Five Star, many, if not most, most of the comments will be about other brands. Have you seen this older thread?:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2309192/five-star-48-range

Or this one chowhound?

http://www.chowhound.com/post/48-gas-dual-fuel-range-wolf-fivestar-thermador-viking-dacor-472289

Pretty much the same story at ChefTalk:

http://www.cheftalk.com/t/18236/5-star-range-question

One suggestion for finding opinions: Brown was a contractor for Viking back when Viking was getting started. I think that relationship continued through the 1980s and maybe into the early 90s. Researching older Viking stoves might get you some info on use and repairability.

I looked at a 30-inch Five Star when I was stove-shopping three years ago but could not get past the tiny ovens. Sorry I can't bemore help.

Thank you - I had missed that bit of history about the older Vikings! I'll check on it.