There are plenty of co-workers of mine that have german cars...simply because of the Diesel aspect and some of the crap they have to go through with 'new' cars. They spend time in the shop for things that are just unheard of. One of my buddies is actually a VW gearhead and he is meticulous with his maintance, still his 'nice' car which is a 2.0T Jetta (only has 22k miles after 3 yrs) has had transmission leaks, fuel lines worn through. I can't remember what else.
The only thing I've had to do with my Honda was change the battery at 90k, which I consider a wear item, I haven't even changed the brake pads on it. Which doesn't necessarily mean anything (could be dependant on driving habits)
I'm not sure who you choose to read for automotive ratings, Consumer reports is pretty rough on german cars for the most part, but I don't feel like scanning everything in just to prove a point.
Here is new car info from JD Power:
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/quality-ratings-by-brand/
http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/dependability-ratings-by-brand/
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/cr-recommended/best-worst-in-car-reliability-1005/reliability-findings/reliability-findings.htm