Newbie in need of some help

Originally Posted by Rainsford

Hey everyone, first post, but I think it might be a doozie.

I'm 23 and living on Long Island. For the past year or so, I've been driving my parents 2007 Maxima (making payments on it myself, though). I'm ready to get a new one in my name, and I'm really stoked about getting a Z.

My work has me driving around a lot, but the positive side of that is that I can write off almost the full price of my car payments as a business expense. However, I had read that when you buy a car, the interest payments can't be written off, while a leased car can (since the interested is rolled into the "finance" cost). Going by this, I was looking to lease. However, since I've only been out of college for about a year, and never really used a credit score, I have a pretty terrible credit rating simply because I haven't ever had to use credit.

When I went to the dealership (just to run through the motions to feel them out), I hit a wall, where the sales manager said I would need a "monster down payment" to lease. Now, I've read that big down payments on a lease aren't a very good idea, but that's why I'm here! I'm ok with spending 600-700~ a month or so (of course, lower is always better!), and am really unsure about what to do. I'd love to get the touring with the Navi, since I've read nothing but positives, but this is my first car-buying experience, so I'm not really sure what I'm getting into, and any and all help would be appreciated!

Thanks again, and it's great to be here!