Here's an interesting comparo between leasing and financing. But not a traditional finance, I compared a finance of ONLY the amount paid during a 3 year lease. Since at the end of the lease you'd have the option to buy the car anyway. Well in this case the lease comes out cheaper. So I'm thinking lease just gives you more options, if you plan to consider buying at lease end anyway. Here's one of many sites I used.
Finance Monthly payment at just under 3% interest on a 36 month finance:
$1138.59
Lease monthly payment assuming the terms in previous post:
$1088.58
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/financ....jsp?mode=full