I would have agreed with you before, but then I worked at a car dealership for two years. A lot of people can't calculate a monthly payment. I was surprised at the time, but since then I've learned to be a lot more understanding.

And that doesn't make them stupid or dim witted.

Math is a skill, just like kindness or empathy.

Also, what a lot of arm-chair-from-the ivory-tower-quarterbacks don't understand is that most people that don't buy brand new vehicles or even certified pre-owned vehicles is that depreciation isn't really that critical.

Because if you are using your already well used car or a newly purchased well used car, the vast majority of the depreciation has already happened. The main reason you keep it is for tax reasons, not to calculate profit.

My 10 year old car is in great shape but has 175k miles on it. It would work fine to drive for Uber with. The resale value is $3500 at best. Putting another $100k driving for Uber would not affect that resale value very much and even if it did, it can only go to zero.

And no, maintenance doesn't become significantly more expensive on a higher mileage car. In fact, as a 10 year old vehicle, it is significantly less difficult and expensive to have it repaired and the replacement parts are significantly less expensive as well due to the availability of aftermarket and salvage options.