you have a lot to learn grasshopper. There are cases where it will be beneficial for you to lease. Cars are depreciating assets by nature. Doesn't matter if it's used or not. Why not share that depreciation with somebody else and possibly come out on top if you have a good money factor and decent residual. It's all simple math and you're not doing it... I suggest you open your eyes especially if you are considering dumping a sizeable amount of cash on transportation. So let me guess, you're willing dump 15K cash on the spot rather than making $300 a months. Tell me how many months is it going to take you to get to $15K? oh btw, do you plan to keep the car over 3 years??? chances are no... in that case, you just dumped a bunch of cash and will lose it when you resell it... BTW, buying used car = paying taxes on the entire amount up front. Leasing, you pay the tax on the lease pmt per month.