Leasing a car that worth $35000?

I'm a college student and I'm in need of a new car. My car is only 5 years old and just over 60000 miles and it is starting to fall apart… Good old american cars. And no I do no beat it up. I've had a major transmission leak just after the powertrain warranty expired! Ford just said tough luck and told me what it cost to fix. Just to mention, I have a full time job making $20 per hour and a credit score in the high 700's.

Anyway, I I have decided to trade my car in and I was quoted from one dealer $6500 for the trade in and I was going to put $5000 down. I've been considering VW, Acura, Subaru, Mazda and Toyota.

Is it a good idea for me to lease with what I putting up front and making currently?

Added (1). I should have stated this in the question, but at my local VW dealership, the salesman gave me a written quote with my trade in and what I want to put down on it at $80 per month, I'm rounding here, for a Jetta GLI SEL for 36 month at 15K a year, way less that what I do now since I work near home/school.

In addition I also received a "spoken" quote from a Toyota dealer at 60 a month for a Corolla, this was just with a trade-in.

Added (2). And honestly, I'd fell bad selling my car to someone.

Do not

Take the $6500 and by a decent Used car… You're in college-you're supposed to be driving a beater. A lease is a terrible idea for someone in your situation, and a down payment make it eve worse--you're paying for a low payment on a car that won't belong to you once the lease is up. Swallow your pride and drive something in your price range. Also, try listing the car yourself and you'll get a lot more than what they dealer offered in trade.

Dude you are getting screwed… Instead of saying I'm leasing a car put it like this. I'm borrowing a car from a dealer and I'm giving him my car that's worth about $6,000 and a bonus $5,000 for borrowing a car. Most lease I hear about only want $1000 down payment with $200 -$250 a month

You can't lease and it would be incredibly stupid even if you could.

Leasing a vehicle in your situation as a college student is simply economically unwise. Upgrade to a better vehicle if you wish, but getting bound into a three year lease for that much cash is not a prudent use of cash. In three years you would have tossed out quite a bit of money and not own a vehicle.

Leasing is a really BAD idea for most people. You get hung up on the low monthly payment, but don't think about the fact that after making that "low" payment every month for 2 or 3 years, you have NOTHING to show for it. You have no equity in the car and at the end of the lease term, you just give the car back to the dealer and walk away from it.

It makes MUCH better sense to BUY a car instead of leasing. You might have to pay a few bucks more for a monthly payment but at the end of the contract period, you actually OWN the car, and you can keep it, sell it, give it away or anything you want to do with it.

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO,

Wants Vs. Needs!

NO! As a student you need every dime. Cars are almost always a bad investment. Drive that car till it dies completely or until it will cost you more money to repair it than you could sell it for.
No! Don't do Trade ins. You will almost never get as much as your car is really worth.

NO! Don't do a lease. They will almost never be cheaper in the long run than if you were to buy a car.

NO! Don't buy a new car. Buy a used one about two to three years.

NO don't buy it from a Car lot Buy it from a private party.

There's not one thing about what you want to do that isn't a Really BAD Idea.

Leasing is useful for people who can use the cost of the lease as a tax writeoff. Clearly, you can't. Next, leasing carries additional conditions about how many miles you can drive per year, and if you go over that number, you will pay a hefty additional charge for each mile over.

And, there's NO way you'll get a lease on a new car for under $100 a month. You've not yet read all of the fine print that will balloon up your payments.

If you current car is worth $6,500 as a trade, it's likely worth at least $7,000 in a private sale. And, if you have another $5,000 available, that would give you $12K with which to buy a good used car that will serve your needs, leave you with ZERO payments, and with lower insurance costs, as well.

On a rainy day, couldn't you take it out and run off the road into a major ditch, making sure you scrap the transmission, pay the 500.00 deductible and get a new one