[quote=moneymaker]{snip}
I’m just amazed when I see people I consider really smart, leasing vehicles.[/quote]

I see where you’re going with this, but as with the renting money for the house as you mention below, leasing is really just a financing and depreciation gamble with the dealer / leasing corporation.

In general, I assume that they have to have it stacked in their favor (as is ought to be the case with extended warranties sold by third parties), but they can’t get it right all of the time. If for some reason you think you have an edge in predicting interest rates or depreciation (or you want to lower your variance / lock in your expenses), then it might make sense to lease a car.

I toyed with the idea of a lease assumption if I could find a car whose remaining mileage was good for me, but was too little for the original lessee, and they had to unload it before the end of the lease so that they wouldn’t be shafted with overages.