Spending a bunch of money on a bike rack is def nothing I would do. My $50 hitch mounted rack carries my $2800 bike very securely. If the rack gets stolen….no biggie. I wouldn’t want the hassle of having to take off the rack all the time.
While I sure many of the expensive racks have some nice features….my guess is that many buy them out of vanity(they don’t want to be seen with a cheap rack on their vehicle),