>> but they avoid most of the cost of deprecation Except that they don't. The dealer is taking the depreciated car back at the end of the lease. The dealer i

>> but they avoid most of the cost of deprecation Except that they don't. The dealer is taking the depreciated car back at the end of the lease. The dealer isn't giving customers a gift by taking the vehicle back at a loss. The lease price covers the entire cost of depreciation over the term of the lease. The customer may avoid seeing the depreciation but they are most definitely paying for it. Worse still, they are coving the most expensive part of total depreciation: the time between new to slightly-used. The people getting the real deal are those buying post-lease vehicles. By buying a slightly used vehicle they avoid the initial depreciation covered by the from-new lease.