I think it's a matter of convenience, which I don't find a remotely fringe argument to make. Just like in the case of guns- I can murder someone with a screwdriver too, but if I have an AR-15 I can murder a hundred times more people in the same span of time, with much less effort.
I can buy lockpicks, slimjims, and all sorts of other locksmith tools made specifically to gain access to cars quickly and easily. And I could have been doing so for way, way longer than the Flipper has existed.