The primary benefit of leasing is the lower cost of using the same vehicle
than if you bought it.  In other words leasing is a lower cost way having a
new vehicle to use and should never be considered as an alternate way of
owning a new vehicle.  One should only acquire a short term lease, two to
three years maximum and never with a mileage rate lower than what you will
actually accumulate.

When you lease you expend less capitol than buying a deprecating asset that
costs more to operate and maintain as it ages, by only paying for the time
and mileage that you use the vehicle.  A secondary benefit is you can get a
lot "more vehicle" to use for the same monthly amount of capital.  NEVER
make the mistake buying a vehicle you have leased.  The cost of buying your
used vehicle is higher than simply leasing another new vehicle.

When I was in retail a lot of shoppers had one and two year balances on
their two and three year old cars and they were looking to buy another new
vehicle.   They would end up carrying the large balance over to the cost of
their next loan.  Many buyers look for a monthly payment, that suits their
budget, and not the total cost of owning that new vehicle.

For a person that wants a new vehicle every three years, leasing is a viable
alternative to buying.  For a much lower monthly payment one can lease the
same vehicle and not need to worry about a year or two of more payments to
refinance. With a short term lease the vehicle is always under warranty and
all one need do is buy fuel and change the oil four to six times.  I do not
understand you 100% interest comment however.  The only way you can own the
same vehicle you lease is to pay around three times the amount of money
monthly over the same number of years.  Why would you want to do that just
to end up owning a used car, when for much less money every month you can
always be driving a new car?

mike

If there's any relation, I know fleet leasing companies lease them out to
corporations/companies as fleet vehicles.

-Dave

Well, this is exactly the reason why.  My co. offered me to pay for
lease payments up to $500 per month instead of giving me a raise.
Naturally I'm searching for a short-term lease (u don't want to be in
the hooks for a long-term lease) with no downpayment and as little
expenses (low gas) as possible.  That's why I'm looking for a 2Y lease
for a cheap MPG vehicle like Prius.  

I would rather lease directly from a Toyota dealer.  If not, then my
options are leasetrader.com or leaseswap for short-term leases.