I'm not sure I get your car analogy, I don't even have a drivers licence xD

But yes, that is a good reminder to not put general statements out there, which I did. I'm sorry for that - so let me rephrase.

It seems contraproductive to have a loading screen in a time, where seconds count and our combined efforts aim to reduce the time it takes for the user to consume our content / get in touch with our brand. Because ultimately, you force the user to wait, just so that video is loaded. What if your user is on 3G, like many people are, and it takes you a minute to load that video of a woman blinking?

Of course preloaders have their valid reason, but currently, they are mostly used to make sure those huge images and videos in the background are loaded, even though these are not essential for the content, they are enhancing the experience but not essential. And essential in that term means, needed for the user to complete their goal. The users goal will most of the time not be, to immerse themselves in that nice hair cutting experience, but instead have a task to complete or an information to find. And if your core user experience only works with huge images and videos loaded, then you are not respecting the goals of your users.

But thats of course just how I see it.