Is there a way to check for the total hours of usage on a VG10? I've looked through the menu on mine, and i can't find anything that shows the hours.

Hours meter is a professional camera feature, and i've never seen one on any consumer camcorder from any manufacturer, so it is all a guesstimate, mostly by the overall condition of the camcorder.

Doesn't the majority of the "hours used" reported by older pro cams relate primarily to the tape mechanism? i.e. how many hours on the drum, on the mech, and overall use time...

Becomes sort of immaterial on a solid state camera I suspect... as wear becomes a non-issue for the majority of components, aside from individual practices of the owner and how well they stored/took care of the camera.

The switch on my Sony VX2000 was a big issue before anything else. So there are things that could go wrong even with a solid state camera.

You could actually take it to a Sony shop. As on older prosumer models, they might be able to read the hours