You've come to the end of your lease and you like you car enough you want to keep it in the driveway. Just like buying a used car, there is some research to be done to nail a good deal.

To lease, you have two possible choices: either lease through a dealer's finance source or through an independent lease company. A conventional dealer has a captive finance source, which can be the car manufacturer's financial company, such as BMW Financial Services, Honda Motor Credit or General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC), or a major national bank such as Chase Manhattan. Independent lease companies are no financial obligation to any single one manufacturer financing source, but work with dealers anywhere in the country.

So which one is better?

A prepaid lease is a new type of lease which has made its foray into the market in recent times. In this lease, consumers forego the cycle of lease payments if they make a large payment at the beginning of the lease.

There are two amounts in a conventional lease that incur charges and determine your monthly lease payments. First, there is a depreciation charge which accounts for the value the car loses during the lease term. Second is a residual amount which is the projected value of the vehicle at the end of the lease. The sum of these two charges gives the monthly payments on your lease.The idea behind a pre-paid lease is to eliminate the finance charges for depreciation and only account for residual value charges in a single, pre-paid payment at the beginning of the lease.

Whether you lease a car to get into the latest models or have better purchasing flexibility, getting a good deal is always bound to give you a lift. Use these guidelines to help you spot one:

Check incentives: be on the look-out for factory -subsidized lease deals. Car manufacturers realise that consumers who lease vehicles from them are more likely to be repeat customers than those who simply purchase vehicles. Through their leasing companies, they adjust the residual value and offer low financing charge. Other auto-manufacturers are also starting to give incentives on leasing, called leasing subventions. They offer these subsidies to put slow-selling models on the street, saving you even more money.

When your lease is up, you can simply turn in the keys and lease another car or buy a new one. But how about getting out before the lease ends? Maybe you can't afford the sky-high payments on that silky Jaguar JX V6 model anymore or you've just had a baby and you need a larger and more spacious vehicle? Unfortunately getting out of a lease is not as easy as getting in! A leasing contract is difficult and expensive to terminate early. Simply turning in the keys and walking away from a lease can result in stiff penalties. You credit could be ruined and you could even get sued for breach of contract.

Your credit score is part of the leasing decision. When you apply for a lease, your lease company will typically look at your credit score to decide whether you to approve the application.

The leasing contract stipulates that you make regular, monthly payments over your lease term. The credit score you lease company requests identifies how likely you are to make such payments. It is simply a number calculated according to a model that takes into account your payment history, any amounts you owe and credit currently in use.

Mention auto-leasing and most people will automatically assume a low-monthly payment. There is actually more than what meets the eye, and a number of fees are involved at various stages of the lease process.

At the beginning of the lease, you have to pay a refundable security deposit, typically equivalent to one monthly payment, to safeguard against non-payment and any incidental damage done to the car at the end of the lease. You are also required to pay an administrative charge, called acquisition fee. Other fees include licenses, registration, title and any state or local taxes.

Despite aggressive low-interest financing, cash-back offers and other purchasing incentives offered by leading auto-makers to buyers, leasing numbers keep increasing steadily over the years. Leasing is not only an attractive financial proposition to most auto-consumers, but also a lifestyle and preference choice.

Benefit Number 1: Keeping up with the latest trends

Leasing is sometimes more of a personal and lifestyle choice than a financial one. Many people are not comfortable with the idea of owning a vehicle over a long period of time. They'd rather keep up with the latest trends of the industry and drive the latest models every two to three years.

If you are in the market to lease a vehicle, you will hear the term "residual value" recur like a leitmotif. A residual value does not only affect your monthly payments, but is equally used by leasing companies to determine any penalties should you break your lease early and how much to pay if you decided to buy the vehicle at the end of your lease.

Hybrid vehicles' popularity has sharply grown from a couple of thousands in early 2000 to close to 300, 000 by the end of 2005. The trend is rapidly catching with the auto-leasing industry with generous tax credits and incentives on offer if you go green.

Beginning in 2006, businesses and taxpayers who lease, or purchase, an environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient vehicle will be eligible to claim federal income tax credits worth thousands of dollars. Individual states also offer generous incentives, including hybrid state tax credits, new High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes access and discounted thruway tolls for alternative-fuelled vehicles. And that's not all you can save from going green! You can now save on your parking fees at a number of universities and some auto-insurance companies are offering insurance discounts for hybrid-vehicle owners nationwide.