You’ve described the mechanism by which the precommitment happened, not actually disputed whether it happens.
Many “irrational” actions by human beings can be analyzed as precommitment; for instance, wanting to take revenge on people who have hurt you even if the revenge doesn’t get you anything.
I doubt it. Reference?
Mostly because they don’t actually notice the cost of gas and car depreciation at the time...
You’ve described the mechanism by which the precommitment happened, not actually disputed whether it happens.
Many “irrational” actions by human beings can be analyzed as precommitment; for instance, wanting to take revenge on people who have hurt you even if the revenge doesn’t get you anything.