Leasing is all the rage in the auto industry again, but does it make sense for you to get into a car this way?

I've seen several news reports that say leasing is now the No. 1 strategy of automakers and car dealers to reverse the trend that we're keeping cars much longer. The average age of a car out on the road is now the longest it's ever been.

One story I saw proclaimed that 200,000 miles is the new 100,000 miles, as more people start to see their cars as being babies once they hit 100,000 miles and keep them on the road.

With increases in car reliability, it's entirely possible that you might keep a car 10 years without breaking a sweat. That's not good for automakers and dealers. So you'll be seeing a strong effort to lease one in three of every new cars that gets sold.

For the most part, leasing is a disaster for you. If you want the best deal, normally that's going to be a purchase. There are only two exceptions to this general rule.

The first is if you like new wheels every two or three years.

The second has to do with fancy luxury cars. Luxury automakers don't discount, so instead they do factory-subsidized leases that can be a deal. You'll know it's a factory-subsidized lease when you see a manufacturer's ad on TV or a website telling you it's such.

The Wall Street Journal reports Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus are in a vicious three-way fight for dominance over the luxury lease market. Mercedes is in first place by a mere 2,800 vehicles over BMW. Both want the crown. We don't know how aggressive Lexus will be.

But expect both Mercedes and BMW to compete fiercely. They know that about 1 in 5 price-sensitive luxury car shoppers will cross-shop both the Mercedes C-Class and the BMW 3 Series.