Times like this I wish I lived in a different part of the US 
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I enjoy Chicago on occasion, but I enjoy returning home even more. 
I would never want to live there, but that applies to most major cities.
Doesn’t make a difference. A shit sandwich is a shit sandwich. Do you envy someone getting more bread and a little less shit in their shit sandwich?
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More bread and less shit in these times is somewhat better than more shit and less bread 
Your response is making me worry that you don’t quite realize how bad this is.
Finance the car you want with the best possible finance rate you can find. Research Credit Unions, there is a thread here for that as well.
If you want a lease type structure look into balloon loans. There is also something some manufacturers offer to get around the chicago taxes. BMW calls it the owners choice program. Its made for Chicago’s taxing issue.
Thank you, I will look into this.
question - Am I allowed to lease a car through any other financial institution or can it only be MBFS?
You can use any bank you prefer.
Any suggestions on where I can find or look at different lenders? And will this work just how it would work with a Finance? I go into the dealership and let them know I have an approval/pre approval from XYZ financial institution?
Have you done this before?
Yes I have.
Which lender did you use to lease a MB?
Lease or finance? There may be another bank you can lease through but yoir options will be very limited. Financing will have many more options.
You will need to get approved for a car loan by whichever lender you have, and the dealer will need to get the funds before they give you the car.
My MB lease was through MBFS. My financed vehicles has always been through BOA.
I’m interested to know what institutions will allow me to lease besides MBFS. Will the financial institution determine the residual and money factor, then?
Most don’t, but it’s up to each dealer.
Lease and finance is very different. Even if a lender like Ally or US Bank has leasing programs, the dealer still has to be setup to process a lease through them.
Ah yes, that makes more sense. Being that there is a calculated money factor and residual. Thanks for clarifying.
Will Ally/Usbank show what’re participating dealers?
Just spoke to Ally and it looks like the dealer would need to initiate the process. You cannot process it without the dealer’s initiation.