A control apparatus for a vehicle provided with a step-variable transmission which is disposed between drive wheels and a drive power source including at least an engine, and which is shifted by changing operating states of coupling devices, the control apparatus including an engine stability time estimating portion configured to estimate a length of stability time required for stabilization of an output state of the engine, when a determination to implement a power-on shift-down action of the step-variable transmission is made, and a control portion configured to delay a moment of generation of a shift-down command to implement the power-on shift-down action of the step-variable transmission, with respect to a moment of the determination to implement the power-on shift-down action, where the estimated length of stability time is longer than a predetermined value.