Also, leasing does not prevent you from paying for the depreciation. It's just included in the fee.

With these things, it is helpful to place oneself on the other end of the transaction and think how you would price things. When you think about it critically, you notice that it can get pretty sophisticated.

This is true, except that the manufacturers frequently choose to eat the loss by setting the residual unnaturally high. Even Tesla has been doing this lately.