On the subject of leasing, where you are "only paying the deprecation..."
I did some calculations:
VW Golf V GTi, standard car, no options: (couldn't find a Z on the leasing company's website)
full leasing with fuel: 25.000km / year , 5 years.
1029.9€ / month. Giving the total at the end of: 61794€
If we were to buy it (same spec):
price: 25.950,00€ (without dealer discount ! )
insurance (full coverage): approx. 1500€ / year (that was what i payed for the TT) = 7500€
tax to put it on the road for the first time: 2500€
yearly road tax: 250€ * 5 = 1250€
fuel: 125.000 km at lets say 10l/100km = 12500 l * 1.5 = 18750
maintenance / tyres: if I take again what my TT cost me i ll be 3 sets of front tyres, one set of rears and maintenance every 15.000km
3 sets of front tyres at approx 180€ * 6 = 1080€
1 set of rears: 180€ * 2 = 360€
maintenance: between 150 - 350€ (never paid more. I know, its cheaper than in the UK)
so lets say 250€ on average * 8 = 2000 + 1000€ for miscellaneous stuff (cambelt or i dunno whatelse, or brake pads ... )
total:
25950€
2500€
1250€
7500€
18750€
1080€
360€
3000€
------
60390 €
remember, the leasing was : 61794€
now lets factor in a loan for buying the car which will make it approx 2500€ more expensive in the end
62890€
Which leads us to difference of 1096€. So if this car is worth more than 1096€ leasing is a lot more expensive in this case.
Imagine selling the car for 8000€ after 5 years, which you cannot do with the leasing, because at the end it is gone. Net result:
-62890
+ 8000
--------
54890€ total cost of ownership, which is a difference of 6904€ compared to leasing. And this does not take into account that you usually get a discount from the dealer when buying a new car (for my Z this was somewhere around 7-8%)
Now this is not a very scientific investigation and your numbers may vary wildly, but anyhow .....
*edit, forgot road tax ...