Leasing is another way to finance a car. Actually, you are able to afford more car than financing because you are only paying for the value of the car that you are using. Trade in is already figured into the contract.
Depending on the financing rate presume a monthly payment of $20 per $1000 of car at about 7%.
So, if you are only going to eat 3 slices of the 18" pizza then why buy the whole thing, right? Pay for what you will use.
Don't let them run your credit so they can control the deal from the start. Check your own credit so you can give them a realistic number to start with. Some banks and credit unions will lease your vehicle so you don't have to worry about the dealer automatically saying you qualify for 2nd or 3rd tier payments.
When I sold cars, I got to see a lot of people with less than stellar credit lease a car for 1-2yrs with burying negative equity and return to lease a car they want. It seems that many divorced women get awarded bad credit and leasing is a quick way to fix it.
When shopping online, don't give your real name and address, etc. Internet manager like to rollover pretty fast so get the online deal and bring it in and use it as the start. Buying cars still sucks but its fun to get a deal.