Every class, every teacher and every student is different so while I’m sure you are right that some students are taking these classes and missing some depth, I don’t think that’s universally true of those who go straight to an AP Physics class. The class if taught well doesn’t skip the basics, it just covers them rapidly because the students in it can absorb the info efficiently and apply it to the more advanced topics. Every year at my kid’s (public) school there are students who went straight to AP Physics who end up being invited to take post-intro physics classes at an incredibly rigorous and well known university who typically do well. If they had glossed over the fundamentals they would not.
I think in most cases it’s worth the student learning the rep of the class and teacher. At our school they tend to put the best teachers on the AP courses so when faced with a choice it’s often worth taking the AP to get the best instructor, if the student knows they can keep up.