The 2.5 Rabbits are much more reliable and cheaper to maintain than VW's usual turbo engines.
Also, if you are going to the dealer for ANY of your regular maint, I pitty you. As long as you have the receipts of the maint parts such as oil, filters, etc, your warranty is fine. The ONLY services that I would go to anyone for would be the transmission flush, cooling system flush and brake system flush. Oil, filter, air filter, cabin filter, fuel filter, spark plugs etc are all 5-45 minute jobs.
I will agree that in general VW's are more expensive to maintain over the long haul, you do get much more out of their cars than you do the competition. IMHO of course, and I am an avid Audi/VW fan. So far I have only NOT done the DSG service myself.