Range Rovers become thief magnets, causing prices to tumble

He is not the only one to have seen the value of his vehicle go into reverse. The average price of a used Range Rover has fallen 9.3 per cent since May to £35,224, versus declines of 5.7 per cent for all luxury SUVs and 2.8 per cent for all cars, data from car site Auto Trader shows.

Range Rover prices fell 2.8 per cent in November alone, Auto Trader said, the steepest drop since insurance costs spiked. The declines follow a surge in second-hand car prices during the pandemic, when new-vehicle production slowed because of semiconductor shortages and other supply chain crises.

Jaguar Land Rover was now considering a bespoke insurance product for British customers struggling to get an affordable quote on the wider market, the manufacturer said in a statement. Last year, it stopped providing insurance cover for customers and subsequently ended a partnership with insurance provider Verex.

Insurance doubles and then some

The average cost to insure a Range Rover more than doubled to £3270 in the year to October, according to comparison site Confused.com. In the same period, overall car insurance rose 57 per cent. In north London, the average quote this year for a male aged between 36 and 50 driving a newer Range Rover model was £5186. Some drivers, like Mr Coen, are being quoted astronomical sums.

“Although not all models have seen declines, the price performance of used Range Rovers overall has been softer than the much healthier picture of the wider used market,” said Erin Baker, editorial director at Auto Trader. “While there are inevitably quirks in any particular market, higher insurance costs may well be a factor.” JLR argued that Range Rover resale values had fallen less than other luxury SUV models on alternative sites.

Newer Range Rover models have become a magnet for criminals, particularly in London, because of their value and their keyless technology. The parts on their own are valuable, too.

While other luxury SUVs also are popular targets for criminals, six of the 10 most-stolen car models in Britain in the year to March 2023 were Range Rovers, according to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The Range Rover Velar was the model most targeted.

Relay attacks

Thieves have used relay attacks, where hand-held radio devices extend the signal from a key inside the house to open the car. Newer keyless technology can prevent this, and drivers are increasingly purchasing special cases for the fobs that prevent the signal from being transmitted. JLR has been rolling out ultra-wide-band technology to protect its cars against this.

Another technique deployed by thieves is to cut into a part of the car and send fake signals to it that the key is present. A new criminal justice bill being brought by the British government aims to stamp out the devices used in this type of theft. Other thieves hope car owners simply leave them unlocked.

Once the vehicles are stolen, criminals often change the plates and ship them overseas.

In an effort to reassure existing owners and potential buyers, JLR said last month that it had spent £10 million since September last year on security updates for 65,000 Range Rover and Range Rover Sport vehicles made between 2018 and 2022. This included updating software preventing thieves from driving away without the keys to the car. As a result, JLR said, thefts of vehicles made during these years had fallen 40 per cent.

But some have decided that owning a Range Rover is not worth the risk. City banker Stephen Joseph, 44, had his car stolen from his home in south-east London in September 2021. It was never recovered and decided to get a Volvo as a replacement instead of another Range Rover.

“I just thought there’s too many getting stolen,” Mr Joseph said. “They’re too desirable.”

Washington Post