I don't know, I have never owned a car in my life, I have leased for 17 years.
For me its like renting any car you want, and at the end of 3 years, I drive it back to the dealership, drop off the keys and say thank you for letting me rent the car. Then I go get a new car

I have avoided expensive maintenance, I abused the **** out of the car...........Now I can get a brand new car. I can always lease above my means. I have had Civics---to----Jaguars----to a G35-----to a 370----next the plan is a porsche.

I get why you all say buy, own, buy, own, Its just not for me. Maybe when I am 65 Ill buy my Cadillac, until them I will just have fun getting a new car every 3 years. Different for everyone I guess.

Grats on the Car!

But just keep in mind, that sounds like a good deal, but that is what its designed to do. If you plan on returning the car when the lease is over, that wouldn't be so bad. But if you plan to buy the car, will you have the 17K? If not, you will have to finance that... it will be like buying another car again(or better yet, the other half).

IMO I would not buy the car at the end of a lease its just not good money sense. Get another car. Leases are for people who want a new car every so often, so never think about buying the car afterwards. And Im not a big fan of putting that much down for a rental.

Do you have a crystal ball?

They put residuals on the end of the lease, and sometimes they are lower than trade values, where you could buy the Z turn around and sell it yourself and make a few bucks. You just have to wait until the lease is almost up and look up the value of the car against the residual buy out, then make your decision. To say not never buy a lease at the end is not good advice, until you know all the facts.

Putting money down on a lease; all you are doing is buying down your payment. That is it nothing more.