As far as the tax thing - I belive it Texas they are more like ballon note deals with an option for $XXX dollars to walk away at the end.

As far as being a good deal... I guess it depends on the residual and if you plan to keep it or not.

basically (based on 4.25%) you are paying $11,000 over 39 months plus about $3,000 down?? (not including TTL - just leave that out of the math for now)

This means that you are paying $14,000 over 39 months... so what is residual??

I picked up my car for less than $29,000 so that minus $14,000 is around $15,000.

So If the residual is closer to $20,000 and you want to buy it then you will be screwed. The problem with leases is that they are based on retail pay off rather than third party prices or trade. This also keeps you upside down on you car untill the end of the lease to keep you in it. So bascially at the end you are better off turning it in or buying it back after you turn it in...

If you have plans to keep the car or think you may want to get out of it then toss your money down and buy the car through normal financing if you can afford the higher payments.

-marc