re: Never leased a car before

$7,500 down is a LOT for a lease. You are not required to put money down, but your note will obviously be higher. It is also my understanding that if you total the car, you don't get the downpayment back from the insurance company.
Also, make sure you are still negotiating the sale price of the car. They might make it sound like the lease price is fixed, but it's not. You still need to settle on the sale price on the car, so be prepared to play hard ball. Finally, find out what the money factor is, set by the manufacturer. The dealer will mark it up obviously, but see if you can negotiate that as well. They aren't going to give to the minimum money factor, but you can at least try to talk them down a bit