If you dont put a lot of miles on your car, ie mostly a short commute back and forth to and from work/school, leasing can be a great good idea. You can get into a new car every car every 3 years and not worry about anything. A good lease usually means paying about 50% (or less) of the cars price over 36 months. My dad's only been leasing cars since 1998 and he loves it. He's on his 3rd leased Accord right now. If I wasnt into modding cars and only cared about getting from A to B, I would only lease.
Mazda does have a 24 month lease special on the Miata right now, 199/month with $3k down.