<human>: Can you condense the text into a few key points?

I'm interested in upgrading my current car, a 2011 hyundai sonata. And going for a better car since I'm graduating university, dislike the sonata, and make enough money to do so. 

I checked out the payment estimator on a car manufacturer's site and it appears as though the lease payments are very expensive compared to the cost of the car. A $48,000 car with $4,500 down having a lease payment of almost $600. It would appear that I would be putting in around $26k over 3 years, only to not get to keep the car.

On the other hand, if I financed it, i'd be building equity in the car (I know depreciating asset...) so after a 4 year finance term, I'd still be able to sell it. And I think I'd be able to sell it for more than $21k which is how much I'd be saving by only leasing the car. Similar cars I've seen on Craigslist go for closer to $30k after being 3-4 years old and having around 45-50k miles. Does this mean that if I financed, I could essentially save $9k on the car -- assuming I sell it after 4 years?
<bot>: Lease or Finance a car that I will only keep for 3-4 years? I can afford expensive monthly payments if in the long run, I save money. I can also afford expensive down payments if necessary.