Lease vs finance vs cash
The three ways to pay for a new car: rent its depreciation, borrow toward owning it, or buy it outright. Each fits a different situation.
There are three ways to put a new car on your driveway. Leasing rents the car for an agreed time and mileage: the payment covers its expected depreciation plus a rent charge, and you return the car unless the agreement lets you buy it, with mileage limits and excess-wear charges policing the deal. Financing borrows toward ownership: monthly payments carry interest (compare offers by APR), and you own the car once the loan is paid. Cash skips interest entirely at the price of tying up a large sum in an asset that loses value.
Which wins is situational. Leasing suits drivers who want a fixed cost and a fresh car every few years, and in a closed-end lease the lessor bears the risk of the car being worth less than expected, a real consideration where technology moves fast, as with electric cars. Financing suits keepers. Cash suits those whose money has no better use elsewhere. Local products blur the lines: a UK personal contract purchase (PCP), for example, pairs monthly payments with an optional larger final payment if you want to keep the car. Company car and tax rules can override everything; see BiK for the UK case.