No. Volkswagens are affordable to maintain, and in fact, their purchase prices are comparable to other luxury cars. Volkswagen prices start from $21,000 for a Passat or Jetta. They offer many different accessories that can increase the price for a high-end model like the Golf GTI at $36,900 or the Touareg Luxury SUV at $41,900. The popular Audi flagship car is priced at about $44,000 with accessories. This is still less than a BMW or Mercedes, which start at around $45,000. A yearly maintenance cost of $1,500 to $2,000 is a lot cheaper than the cost of fueling an equivalent high-performance car which can be up to 10 times that amount. The reason for this is that the majority of Volkswagens are powered by diesel engines which have far lower fuel consumption than similar petrol engines. Also, the high-performance engine of a sports car or luxury car will have a higher fuel consumption than diesel. In addition, some of the Audi and Golf models use hot compressed natural gas (HCNG) which is up to 20 times cheaper than diesel. Gasoline prices in the US have been fairly stable at around $3 to $3.50 per gallon since late 2014, but the price of diesel has risen by $0.40 per liter ($1/gallon) since then. This reflects how attractive an option the diesel engines are for fuel economy and reliability. Volkswagen is not cheap to maintain, but by no means is it the most expensive car brand to maintain either. The popular diesel models are cheaper to maintain than their petrol equivalents. Another reason why Volkswagen cars are affordable to operate is due to them having lower insurance premiums than other brands [because they're less likely to be involved in accidents]. (As a side note, Mercedes and BMW tend to have higher insurance premiums. This is an interesting consideration if you have an accident and end up getting a repair estimate of over $5000.)