re: About to lease a car...any tips before I pul the trigger?

You will get every line here in why you should not lease, but very few people actually run through the details of why its a bad idea. Most of it comes from secondhand statements. I am in the minority and believe it can be very advantageous under the right circumstances and financial terms.

For your situation, leasing is possibly an okay decision. First, if she really only drives 5 miles a day, get a lower mileage lease. 12k/yr is the normal lease. They usually offer 8k/10k/12k/15k leases. All with different residuals. This could lower your payment even more.

If you lease and are significantly under mileage, the dealer "wins". You have to either buy the car for residual (hence dealer gets paid, but vehicle is "worth" more) or give a higher value asset to them with nothing to show. Of course you could use it to negotiate your next purchase, but they're still perpetuating the cycle.

Consider if you will be adding options to the vehicle spec'd in the advertised lease. This will affect the negotiations and usually the dealers get and advantage here. However, usually the residual % will stay the same, as will the "dealer contribution" and money factor. The key is negotiating the price of the vehicle just as if you were purchasing. Leasing is simply another way of financing that reduces your monthly payment (it's basically a balloon payment).