My father did this on an ES300 before...he knew he wanted to buy the car at the end of the lease but could expand the terms where he could use little money up front (for the lease) and just build his funds to make a very low car note when time to purchase.

everyone's situation is different, but like Tom said...once you are knowledgable about the lease itself and how well it benefits you, you usually come out winning

 

here in cali, if you lease a car you only pay sales tax on the portion of the car that you lease, whereas if you buy, you pay sales tax on the full purchase price (and when you sell, you don't get sales tax credit). that can be a huge difference

and yes, everyone is different. like i said you have to smart with numbers and money and figure out what's better option for different situations. it's simply a false statement to say one is better / worse than the other because i have seen both ways. in short, i am not saying lease is the best option, but it's not the way to go always either

 

It all depends on your situation. If you're going to trade the car anyways every 3 years or so, leasing can save you some money. If you write a vehicle off for business it makes it even more attractive. If you're planning on buying the car and keeping it, barring any sort of rebate or tax advantage you should probably just buy it from the get go.

My problem with people like Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman is that they preach a certain way of doing things for all people. That works for people in plain vanilla situations, but for those of us who are a little more sophisticated, a little more capable of making decisions for ourselves, and have situations that are a little more complex than somebody being paid a salary there are other options that work better.

For me, leasing saves me money.