A vehicle control apparatus including: a storage portion configured to store therein a vehicle control software for controlling a vehicle; a receiving portion configured to receive an update software from an external server; and an updating portion configured to update the vehicle control software stored in the storage portion, to the update software received by the receiving portion. The updating portion is configured to determine whether the vehicle is in a long-time requiring state that requires a long time for making a repair of the vehicle which is needed in case update of the vehicle control software is not successfully completed. The updating portion is configured to execute the update of the vehicle control software when determining that the vehicle is not in the long-time requiring state, and is configured to withhold the update of the vehicle control software when determining that the vehicle is in the long-time requiring state.