Range Rovers are suffering large price drops as their owners struggle to get them insured after the model became Britain’s most stolen car, it has been revealed.
The average price of a used Range Rover – a car beloved by the wealthy and celebrities including Premier League footballers – has fallen 9 per cent since May to £35,224, compared to a decline of 3 per cent for all cars according to Auto Trader.
And the cost to insure one more than doubled to £3,270 in the year to October in a period that saw overall car insurance rise 57 per cent, according to Confused.com.
The average quote this year for a man aged 36 to 50 years old driving a newer Range Rover model was £5,186. One driver received a cheapest quote of £48,000 for a car worth £45,000 which was valued at £103,000 two years ago, reported Bloomberg.
It comes after data from the DVLA in May revealed the Range Rover Velar R-Dyn is the most sought out car by criminals, with two in every 100 of the model stolen.
Manchester City footballer Jack Grealish behind the wheel of his Range Rover in April
Harry Kane arrives at Tottenham Hotspur’s training ground in his Range Rover in 2015
Criminals usually go in pairs to steal keyless cars. One holds a transmitter and stands next to the vehicle while the other stands close to the house holding an amplifier
Land Rover is the most stolen brand, with 924 stolen per 100,000 in the 12 months to March 2023. It also made up six of the top ten most stolen car models overall.
Separate data from LeaseLoco in February showed there was a 47 per cent jump in the number of Range Rovers reported stolen to police between 2021 and 2022 – a rise from 3,754 to 5,533.
It comes amid the recent spike in keyless car crime which has seen this become the most common tactic used by organised criminals to steal high-value motors.
Range Rover owner Tim Coen, 34, said his current insurance provider told him it would not reinsure his Range Rover – and the cheapest quote online was £48,000.
The property investor from Leeds, whose previous Range Rover was stolen in London in 2020, told Bloomberg he paid £103,000 for his Sport SVR two years ago.
The car was worth £75,000 when he checked it online three months ago – but the same site now puts the value at £45,000.
It means he cannot sell it because he would need to find an extra £25,000 to pay off the finance because of the valuation fall.
City banker Stephen Joseph, 44, said his Range Rover was stolen from his home in South East London in September 2021, and he chose to get a Volvo instead as a replacement.
He told Bloomberg: ‘I just thought there’s too many getting stolen. They’re too desirable.’
Nigel Pocklington, chief executive of energy supplier Good Energy Group, had his Range Rover stolen from outside his home in Clapham, South West London.
Police managed to find the car within ten minutes because it had a tracker, and it was returned to him – albeit with £3,000 worth of damage to the bumper and steering wheel lock.
Manchester United footballer Harry Maguire is seen driving his Range Rover in July last year
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford gives David De Gea a lift in his Range Rover in 2018
Mr Pocklington, 52, told Bloomberg: ‘I’m fairly certain that I won’t be claiming the insurance for the damage, partly with an eye to making sure I get a renewal.’
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It comes after Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) confirmed it will spend £10million in the battle against keyless car thieves by retrofitting older models.
The company, which is owned by Indian giant Tata, said its latest security technology will create a virtual barrier that will block the recent spate of breaches of driverless system in its vehicles.
JLR said its latest anti-theft systems in its newest models manufactured from last year onwards are far less susceptible to breaches of its keyless technology.
The firm also said that since January last year, only 0.07 per cent of new Range Rover and Range Rover Sports on the road with the latest security setup have been stolen, while only 0.3 per cent of new Defenders had been affected since 2020.
A JLR spokesman told today: ‘UK customers of luxury cars and other luxury goods are experiencing an increase in thefts due to organised criminal activity in the UK.
‘The desirability of our luxury vehicles, coupled with concerns around thefts, has recently led to challenges around insurance for some clients.
Luke Shaw in a Range Rover driving to Manchester United’s training ground in February 2019
Range Rovers are much loved by the wealthy and celebrities including footballers (file image)
‘We are dedicated to addressing these challenges, with immediate measures including a significant additional investment in vehicle security and working closely with our insurance sector and wider partners to develop solutions, including bespoke UK insurance for JLR customers.
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‘Residual values in the UK market spiked in response to acute used car shortages caused by the pandemic and semiconductor crisis.
‘They are now realigning across the board as expected. We are pleased that Range Rover resale values continue to ensure that our customers experience some of the lowest levels of depreciation.’
Meanwhile, JLR also announced today that its Range Rover clients ‘can now benefit from a new insurance solution for new and used vehicle purchases’.
It said that its insurance policies had been developed to ‘help alleviate recent challenges clients have faced when seeking insurance’.
JLR also said that since October, it had ‘so far provided more than 4,000 clients with a JLR insurance solution, with an average monthly premium of less than £200 ‘.
Speaking in relation to this announcement, Patrick McGillycuddy, JLR UK Managing Director, said: ‘While our new insurance proposition is a key milestone, we want to reassure clients that we will continue monitoring and refining our service so that even more clients can take advantage of it.’