when i bought my dvx100b, they told me i needed to buy into a certain cleaning program for about $1000 to get my camera cleaned every year. they said these cleaning are required and if i dont get it done yearly then it will overheat and be damaged permanently. is this true are were they just trying to hustle me for more money?

hustled for sure.

Sounds like you werent dealing with a reputable Panasonic dealer.

i didnt buy it because it sounded shady when the guy kept trying to lower the price for me to buy it

good call. i would deal with one of the site sponsers in the future