I'll note that I haven't had any corrective maintenance issues either. But I think that's another thing that varies. Most have no problems, but some have premature failures. True for any brand, though perhaps marginally worse for VW than for Honda or Toyota. I figure it's luck of the draw and driving habits either way. I just picked up a used Honda Civic that had the transmission replaced, had a leaking EGR valve, has a power steering pump that is getting ready to fail, and has a non-functional AC compressor. All at 160k miles. (I got a good price and don't need it for reliability since it's mainly for my teenager to drive.) We'd all be flipping out if we had the same problems in our VWs, but need to remember that even the most reliable brands aren't immune to these things.
I don't worry too much about the scheduled maintenance costing a bit more either, since that cost is spread over many miles and is relatively minor compared to the purchase price and corrective maintenance.
My point is that most of us get truly awesome mileage and don't have any problems, but there are no guarantees. That goes for any brand though--if you look at forums for competitor vehicles, you'll find people there complaining about maintenance costs too, and I'd guess some are getting 55mpg from their hybrid Civics.
