For the current middle-aged, middle-class generation there are three main signs that you’ve “made it”, according to one observant Telegraph reader. Apparently, the list is as follows: a house with bifold doors, a Rolex on your wrist, and the pièce de résistance, a Range Rover parked on the drive.

But get your tiny violins ready. That heated leather-seat dream may be over for many of the “Rangie” set before it’s even begun. In some parts of the country, they’re becoming too expensive for many owners to keep.

It always used to be the case that Range Rovers were the preserve of the wealthy upper classes, but the introduction around a decade ago of smaller and cheaper Evoques on £400-a-month PCP arrangements changed all that.

It meant the bifold door-loving, Rolex-wearing “mass affluent” crowd, who definitely couldn’t afford a £100k Range Rover Sport, were offered a realistic entry point to the brand.

They lapped it up. Range Rover sales boomed and there are now three times more registered Range Rovers in the UK than there were before the launch of the Evoque. Some models developed long waiting lists because demand so far outstripped supply.

With more than 415,000 registered vehicles on the road (up from 50,000 at the turn of the millennium) we became a nation of Range Rover lovers. Yet the brand is divisive, and whether these 4x4s are “in” or “out”, greatly depends upon which circle you mix in.

The aspirational mass affluent crowd love Range Rovers and view them as unequivocal symbols of success and status.

These fans sit alongside the original wealthy Range Rover-loving crowd who, unfazed by the middle managers and the regional lawyers driving around in their Evoques, remain smitten with the rugged off-road vibes of their larger models and their sumptuously comfortable interiors.

The brand’s stratospheric success has not been appreciated by all, to put it politely. Enter another breed of person who could be from any walk of life, but views themselves as discerning. They probably revel in being unflashy and may enjoy tut-tutting about Range Rovers being “tacky”, “vulgar” and fit only for drug dealers and other unsavoury (but moneyed) characters.

But their disdain for the brand is mild compared to the environmentalist crowd, to whom Range Rover is practically a swear word.

This lot see them as the ultimate, ostentatious, polluting symbol of mindless capitalism. Wretched “Chelsea tractors” which deserve to be pelted with rotten eggs and detested with absolute vengeance.

Although I can appreciate some Range Rovers (I wouldn’t be seen dead in an Evoque), they have never been for me. I knew a boyfriend in secondary school wasn’t “the One” when one day he came round for tea and announced that his goal in life was to own a black Range Rover Sport.

At the time my dad drove a sky blue Citroën Picasso with picnic tables in the back which, to me, was the best car of all time.

An inverted snob in the making, you might say, but fast forward two decades and, ironically, I’ve ended up driving a black SUV, albeit from a mid-market brand, and only because my toddler’s ridiculously large buggy would not fit in the boot of our old hatchback.

You may have guessed, but my lack of love for Range Rovers remains, not that I could afford one anyway.

And that’s lucky for me because they have, it seems, become a victim of their own stonking success – Range Rovers have become more vulnerable to theft than any other brand.

One in every 100 Land Rovers were stolen, according to DVLA figures analysed by confused.com from March 2022 to March 2023. This figure rose to two in 100 for Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE D180 A, which was the most targeted model. Despite Range Rover thefts falling, according to new DVLA data released this week, they remain high.

As a result of this crime wave, some Range Rovers have become almost impossible to insure for many owners in London. This is more prohibitive to ownership than the theft itself. Annual premiums have soared to five figure sums in some cases, which is simply preposterous.

One 35-year-old woman living in London’s suburbs, with six years of driving experience and no claims, was reportedly told her Range Rover Velar would cost £22,515 a year to insure, and all but two insurers refused cover at all.

This is in contrast to drivers in Sussex, where 20 insurance providers offer quotes for the same model, with the best price offered standing at £1,978 a year, which at a tenth of the cost, is still a hefty sum.

Some insurers also insist on GPS trackers and cumbersome steering wheel locks, which many drivers feel are ugly and a downright nuisance.

And it’s not just the insurance which could seriously hurt owners in the pocket. Research shows Range Rover owners can expect higher and more frequent repair costs than owners of rival vehicles.

The brand was named the least reliable manufacturer in Warrantywise’s 2022 Reliability Index rates, due to the frequency and cost of repairs. Subsequently Land Rover (which includes Range Rovers) was also named as the second least reliable brand in What Car?’s index last year.

So where does all this leave the bifold door brigade, whose high mortgage repayments have just doubled due to interest rate rises, meaning keeping up with the monthly Range Rover payments is already causing sleepless nights?

The unfortunate truth is that for some, especially in London, these eye-watering insurance payments may spell the end of the middle-class dream of owning a Range Rover.

Those who choose to sell may face a double blow, as all the insurance drama has sent used vehicle prices downwards, meaning options for a replacement car may be limited.

A Nissan or Kia parked on the drive might not exude such elite success in life, but for anyone struggling but desperate not to downgrade just yet, some good news.

I hear the second hand watch market is booming, so if you can bear to part with it, you might get a good price for that Rolex.

for "rich" substitute:




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Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

There are two things that determine if you are rich.

1. You can walk behind your sofa.

2. You can enter your property in a car and leave it again without using reverse.

Regarding the former, I can walk behind 2 out of my 3 sofa's, and with the later, I could if I bought a much smaller car.

We don't own much in terms of real estate (a good size house we bought cheap, with the help of a mortgage) or, "random stuff" like expensive cars and such but I do feel rich.

That's become by having been able to travel far and wide.
Of course we have an interest in money because we need to pay for things but we are both not trying to accumulate large sums of money.
To us it's a means to an end and we do save and try to spend wisely on the things and experiences we value which more often than not, turn out to be priceless.

Thanks for putting up the article Dolphinboy !

Cheers, Ard

I thought the article was written with envy . Filters are in fact so good that in certain circumstances, when the ambient air is already polluted, a diesel car will tend to extract more particles from the air than it emits. Emissions Analytics worked with........etc etc

He who dies with the most toys wins...

'Rich' is a very relative term. I have the car(s), the watch(es) and even quadruple bi-fold doors!! However, between the downturn in the N.Sea oil industry (which began about 2015), Brexit and Covid, my business has gone from a goldmine to now keeping its head just about above the water.

Am I bothered? No!

Without a word of a lie, my total domestic monthly income is now less than that of a small family living entirely on benefits. This does tend to cause some evaporation in my urine, as I've handed HMRC over £1million across the past two decades. However, I am still 'rich' because I have assets and my outgoings are less than my income.

Truth is, the old saying is absolutely correct - money doesn't make you happy. Problem is that you actually need to get to that point of being 'rich' before you can genuinely believe it. Also, the more you have, the more you spend.

I love it when folks say "It's all right for you", not realising that their income is typically five to ten times more than mine. I've got about a decade to go until I get a state pension and then I'll be 'rich' again!  The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom

I spent ages typing a reply to this, then deleted it.

More hogwash from journalists who love a sweeping generalisation.

I refuse to let them get to me...

Interesting the article refers to the Evoque and Sport, no mention of the FFRR, so clearly not applicable to those of us with the only "Real" Range Rover.  2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster - Gone, but not forgotten

I am far from rich, currently working for a fortune 500 company and running my own very small business but when I drive my 12 year old Range Rover I definitely feel special and it makes me think all the hard work and tough days have paid off and I now get a taste of what its like to be comfortable. Current yokes
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster
2006 Disco 3
Scoobie GT wagon
Mx5 G Ltd
TT S Line
Pajero JDM Exceed

As lots of folks above have alluded to, "rich" is subjective. Many use the term millionaire to denote those they imagine to be rich. But a million quid net worth nowadays, up north, is a reasonable detached house, a decent car, a couple of ISAS and a few investments made over the years maybe.

In London and much of the south where property prices are far higher, a little old dear on a state pension with a modest semi that was paid off years ago is a millionaire.

You're not arriving anywhere in your helicopter or a Sunseeker yacht with a million net worth. But people like the hack that wrote that, would call you rich.

The article reeks of jealousy. And how she justifies apologetically her pretend SUV is also telling. She obviously lives in that tofu and oat milk London bubble where people like Vine and lots of right-on types sporting beards and red trousers live. 2017 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography in black
2018 D300 SE Velar in champagne
Spiffing wheel centre caps, L322 sill repair panels, etc