Why do people spend so much time and money on cars?

[Cubswin]

I am so against the idea of putting money into a depreciating asset, I dont even own a car at the moment nor do I see a need to own one. I have an 8 minute walk to the metro and it gets me to most everywhere I need to go. If the metro doesnt got there, I can always take cabs. If I need to get out of town I will most always do so on the weekends and rental cars at the place 3 minutes from my house are $19 a day on weekends... plus I can rack up the miles by renting the cars. The price of taking the metro/bus, cabbing it, and renting a car when needed is a fraction of what I would pay for payments, insurance and maintenance. A guy I work with, who is making well over 100k a year and single, does the same thing. Its not that we cant afford the card, its just that we see that they arnt very wise investments.