[kimi_fan]

I know this is a side note, but while eveyone was talking about leasing just thought I'd share.

I needed an suv so naturally looked at the X5 and X3. The rates on the 2008 X3 and X5 are high, jumped 1.5% to around 8.5% on a lease. The residuals for the X5 stayed the same, X3 came down from 68% to 65% (terms are 36 mo./36k miles).

Needless to say I went with the 07' X3...prices out at $49,100, payments came out to $680 after the discount. The X5 priced out at $54,000, but payment were $899...again, 61% residual and high rates = high lease payments. For comparison, an Infiniti FX35 AWD with options, priced out at $46,000, payments were $780. And I never knew Toyota SUV's had such low residuals.