The information in this thread is a bit skewed. Of course there is value in leasing! You can drive a nicer car for a lot less money, and continue to do so for the rest of your life. I don't know many people who are in new cars without any car payments.
For example:
I pay $176 bi-weekly on a 60 month lease for my car. That's around 22,000 after 5 years. I have the option to give it back and get into another car. The lease buyout for me is $10,000 and the MSRP of my car is around $29,000+tax's and bs. I have the lease protection as well so I will not be paying for any regular wear on the car if I do decide to just give it back after the term. Let's not forget to mention all the tax benefits I have by driving my lease!
Financing my car over 60 months would be close to, if not over $500/month all said and done. I'm also liable for any wear and tear in that case! I'd rather tie up my money in something that doesn't depreciate at over 20% every year.
I think for people who don't drive a lot and like to be in new cars; leasing is the way to go. I have 24,000km allowance per year (120,000 for 5 years) - plenty more than I need! And if I have 20,000km left over in my lease by trade-in time, see value in buying the car out and selling it back; I can! Also there are plenty of times people get out of their lease early at minimum to no penalty, where as, if you sell your car too early you could end up having a lot larger loan left than the car is worth in the market.