The problem, A&C, is that not everyone has the expertise to sort out the honest people from the crooks
After 8 years of ownership, I am still learning. It's been a steep curve at times, and I was dead lucky because I bought a new plane, so for the first 2 years I was able to harrass Air Touring (who hated me eventually, but actually many/most of their recent customers ended up threatening litigation pretty often, anyway) and even to this day I have not had to have any significant work done (manageable individual avionics issues excepted).
Somebody who bought a 25-30 years old plane (which is most people, on average) as their first time buy will have a double learning curve: learn about aircraft engineering, and learn about how to spot the crooks. Such owners usually end up bent right over the nearest barrel
Being on the N-reg does not significantly reduce
scheduled maintenance (except the 150hr check - IF you fly 150/year) but there are peripheral gains: it is easier to avoid the crooks because you choose who does the work, and the whole maintenance deal is more portable. And you can buy overhauled parts with an 8130-3 whereas on a G-reg an OH part would need a Form 1 which is money for old rope (basically it is a 145 company flogging you a bit of laser printer toner for a few hundred quid
).