I know a lot of guys who started out in lease/op programs and all of them lost at least a year of their lives to it- meaning, not only did they waste their time during the lease, but they had to did themselves out of the hole the lease created.
I'm sure there is someone, somewhere out there who made it work. Good luck finding him... and ask a lot of questions when you do find him. You may just find out that he just thinks he made it work. There's a difference between thinking you're making money and making money.