Some of this change is
Some of this change is clearly because of a rare situation where used models have higher resale value than before. Historically, this has not been the case. I remember my last Chevy Volt lease, where the new price when leased was $40K, and the buyout price was $26K after 3 years, but I was able to find a used Chevy Volt (same year) with 1/4 the mileage, for $8K less, including shipping and taxes. I think that the biggest hidden costs of leasing are the ones that you listed, being mileage limits and high fees for over-mileage, plus very high charges for minor, wear and tear damages, like small door dings and window chips. I had paid more in advance to get higher 20K yearly mileage, and still had to stop driving the car 7 months before the end of the lease so that I wouldn't go over mileage and incur thousands more in penalties and fees.