[baseball]

Nick, I don't know the tax laws in Chicago, but I think you're missing the sales tax in your calculations. In most states you pay tax on the part of the car you lease. So in addition to the $4909 due at lease signing, you may have a few more grand you'll have to plunk down in order to drive off. Leasing CAN be a smart choice, but one of the big benefits of leasing (namely avoiding a big outlay of cash all at once) is lost in this deal.

I don't think this is a very good lease deal, but for other reasons than the previously stated opinions. 1, this lease deal is nothing special, it's been around since I was looking for my Boxster almost a year ago. And 2. Lease deals will get much more aggressive later this year. Remember in recessionary times, new car sales go down, while used car sales go up. The biggest discounts can currently be found in new cars, while used cars are keeping the lights on in most dealership right now.