Current model year5½-hour drive experience
Jeep Wrangler
The beach classic: solid axles and a top that opens. The Willys trim comes from the factory ready for sand.
- Seats
- 5
- Top
- Opens
- Sweet spot
- Willys
From the sand to your driveway · Open all year
Shop it on the beach. Own it built your way.
Drive it on the sand for a day, then buy it for less. Five and a half hours in the off-road trim on the Carova 4x4 beach, with no salesperson anywhere in it. That evening one of our dealers emails you a no-haggle price set for buyers who have already done the work, in writing, good for 30 days. If it’s the one, you order it built your way, and it comes to your door. If anyone beats the price in writing inside those 30 days, your $325 comes back.
Nobody rides along. Nobody hurries you. Nobody calls unless you ask.
The drive is the reason to come, any month of the year: the one you’ve been looking at, off the pavement and on the sand, with no pitch and no pressure. If it’s the one, buy it at one no-haggle price. If it isn’t, hand back the keys, and that’s the end of it.
5½Hours behind the wheel
3Hours on the sand, about
30Days the dealer’s discount holds
$325A vehicle, all in
$325 is paid to Beach 4x4 and covers one vehicle for the full five and a half hours.
Right for you
Start with what you want it to do
Then drive it on the sand and see if it does. Nobody steers you toward one.
- If you wantA top that opensDriveJeep Wrangler or Ford Bronco
- If you wantA top that opens and a pickup bedDriveJeep Gladiator
- If you wantA full-size pickup with room for bikes, boards and the big coolerDriveChevrolet Silverado Trail Boss or Ram 1500 Rebel
- If you wantTo settle it between twoDriveDrive bothBring a second driver, 25 or older, and swap at the Virginia line. Read how they feel first.
The experience
Feel how it performs where the pavement ends
Five and a half hours is long enough to know, with the people who’ll ride in it every day. Here is what the beach will show you.
- 01
The ramp
The run from the end of North Carolina Highway 12, the road up the Outer Banks, onto the sand in Corolla.
- 02
Aired down
At 18–20 psi the tires spread out and float. You feel it the moment you hit the sand.
- 03
Soft sand
Deep, dry sand, where four-wheel drive earns its keep.
- 04
Packed sand by the water
A smoother ride on firm sand, best near low tide.
- 05
Ruts and soft spots
How it rides over tire ruts, and whether anyone in the back seat notices.
- 06
Room for a beach day
Load the chairs, the cooler and the fishing rods, and see how it all fits.
Start to finish
One experience, start to finish
-
Step 1
Book it in five minutes
Online, $325 a vehicle for five and a half hours, any month of the year. Pick one, or two if you bring a second driver. License, insurance and the rental agreement are handled online, so nothing waits for you at the hotel but the keys.
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Step 2
Keys at the hotel
Load up at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk. A short walk-around, four-wheel drive and airing down explained, and you’re off up Highway 12.
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Step 3
The beach
An air-down stop in Corolla, then about three hours on the Carova sand, with the dunes, the surf and the wild horses, and nobody riding along.
-
Step 4
Your price, in writing
Back at the hotel you hand over the keys. That evening our dealer for that brand emails you a numbered certificate with its no-haggle price and what you save, good for 30 days. We take your picture with the vehicle, sand still on the tires, and send it that night.
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Step 5
Order it, if it’s the one
Call the program contact named on your certificate. That one person places your factory order, in your color, your trim and your options, at the certificate price, then handles the paperwork and the financing, and the dealer delivers it to your home. Live farther away? A dealer near you hands over the keys instead, for a flat fee printed on your certificate, so nothing changes on delivery day. Not the one? You found out on the sand, not after you bought it.
Built to order
Order exactly what suits you, not what was on the lot
A dealer’s lot holds what the factory sent it: the colors and packages that sell fastest. This program is built around the factory order instead. The beach settles which vehicle and which setup is yours, down to the color, the top, the axle, the tires and the options you will not find parked in a row. Then the ordering store places that exact build in your name.
A 4x4 becomes part of who you are. Buyer’s remorse comes from settling for the one that happened to be there. The one you build was never on a lot, and the wait for it is what you chose, not what you put up with.
If you would rather not wait
Say so when you order. If a build matching yours is already on its way to another dealer, the ordering store can trade for it and cut the wait by weeks. You decide that up front: the exact build only, or a match if one turns up sooner.
- Ordered in your name
- A sold order, with your name on it, which the factory schedules ahead of the vehicles it builds for dealer lots.
- You hear every change
- Ordered, scheduled, built, shipped, on the truck. Each time the status changes you hear from us the same day, in plain words, with what comes next. A finished vehicle waiting on a rail car is still a wait, but you will never be the last to know about it.
- Skip the train, if you want
- Where the manufacturer allows it, the ordering store can request a truck carrier instead of rail once your vehicle is released. The cost is shown to you before you decide.
- The price is for your build
- Your certificate price covers the build you order, and the 30 days are for placing the order, not for the factory to finish it. Factory cash is whatever the manufacturer offers the day you sign.
- First drive on the sand
- Within the ordering store’s own delivery area, you can take delivery here instead, air down and take your own up the beach for its first drive.
Why the price is better
You arrive as a buyer, not a browser. The price reflects it.
A dealer’s price has the cost of selling built into it: the ads that bring shoppers in, the salesperson’s afternoon, the loop around the block, the hour at the desk, and the shoppers who leave to go look at the other brand. You cost our dealer none of that. You paid $325 to drive the off-road trim for five and a half hours, your license and insurance were checked before you arrived, and by the time the keys come back you know whether it’s the one.
A sale that arrives finished can be sold for less. That is the price on your certificate, and it is the same price for every program driver, set before any of them booked.
Our guarantee
Find a lower written out-the-door price on the same new vehicle, same trim and options, within the 30 days, and your $325 comes back. The dealer sets its number knowing it will be shopped.
- Set before you book
- Our dealer sets one price for program drivers on each trim of the lineup, in advance, as a condition of being on the program. Nobody at the dealership meets you, so the number cannot be worked up on you.
- The same for everyone
- Every program driver who books the same trim gets the same price. There is no better deal for whoever argues longest.
- Shown line by line
- Sticker price, factory cash, the dealer’s discount, your price and what you save, printed on the certificate. What each line means.
- Good for 30 days
- The dealer’s discount holds for 30 days. Factory cash is whatever the manufacturer is offering the day you sign.
- Worth more to the dealer than a walk-in
- Manufacturers pay dealers for hitting sales targets, and the last few sales of the month are the ones they want most. A sale that costs nothing to make is one a dealer prices to win.
- Nothing to join
- No membership, no card, no credit union. The drive is what gets you the price.
Our dealers
You never shop the dealer. We already did.
Every vehicle on the lineup is ordered and delivered through one of our dealers: one store per brand, admitted to the program after it agreed to our terms, in writing, before a single driver was sent its way. We don’t list them here because the dealer isn’t the point. The price is. You’ll have the store’s name, your one contact there and the certificate price in writing before you decide anything.
The standard
A dealer that falls short of this comes off the program, and the brand goes to a store that will meet it.
- A price in writing
- One out-the-door price per trim for program drivers, set before you book, on a numbered certificate good for 30 days.
- Nothing added at the desk
- No add-ons, no market adjustment, no markup over the certificate, no haggling at delivery.
- Your build, or a match
- A factory order built to your color, trim and options, or a matching unit the store trades for if you would rather not wait. Your call, made up front.
- Delivered to you
- To your door inside the store’s delivery area, or a courtesy delivery through a dealer near your home, for the flat fee printed on your certificate.
- One contact
- A named person at the store who handles program buyers and answers within one business day. No salesperson, no handoffs.
- Shopped on purpose
- Our dealers set their price knowing you can take it anywhere. If anyone beats it in writing within 30 days, your $325 comes back.
The name
Why we call it an experience
The day on the sand is only part of it. You learn what the four-wheel drive can do, and you come off the beach confident in it. But the experience runs from the first time you shop to the day you own it.
Buyer’s remorse comes from choosing the wrong vehicle. People compare trims and prices and end up in something that isn’t them. A 4x4 becomes part of who you are, and the only way to know it suits you is to live with it for a day, on the beach, with no salesperson anywhere in the picture.
Then comes the part most buyers dread: the dealer. That’s inside the experience too. The price is set in writing before you ever talk to the ordering store, your order is built to your choices, and the dealer near you does one thing: hands you the keys.
Shopping, driving, ordering, owning. None of it should be anything less than enjoyable. That’s the experience.
What you save
Your savings, line by line, before you sign anything
Car-buying services show you the math. So does your certificate. Every line is printed on it, so you can hold it up against any other quote.
Want to see this month’s factory offers before you come? They’re on the manufacturers’ own sites: Jeep, Ram and Chevrolet.
- Sticker price
- The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the trim and packages you order.
- Factory cash
- Any cash back or bonus cash the manufacturer is offering that month, already taken off.
- The dealer’s discount
- What our dealer takes off for program drivers, in dollars.
- Your no-haggle price
- One price, the same for every program driver. Nothing to negotiate.
- You save
- The sticker price minus your price, in dollars.
- Out the door
- Your price plus tax, title and tag fees and the dealer’s documentation fee, so the last number is the one you pay.
Where it starts
An oceanfront start in Kitty Hawk
The Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk sits right on the Atlantic, on the Beach Road. The vehicles line up out front. You get the keys there and meet us back at the same spot five and a half hours later.
- Start
- Hilton Garden Inn Outer Banks/Kitty Hawk, 5353 N. Virginia Dare Trail
- Hotel
- Oceanfront, 180 rooms
- Return
- The same spot, five and a half hours later
Your drive experience
Five and a half hours, nothing rushed
From the hotel it is North Carolina Highway 12 north through Duck and Corolla, then sand all the way to the Virginia line.
- Keys at the Hilton Garden InnPickup in Kitty Hawk, with a staff walk-around.
- Highway 12 northAbout 22 miles through Duck and Corolla, roughly 45 minutes of real road driving.
- Air down in CorollaTires to 18–20 psi, a mile before the ramp.
- The Carova 4x4 beachAbout three hours on soft and packed sand, with the dunes, the surf and the wild horses. Drivers stay 50 feet from the horses.
- Air up and head southBack down Highway 12 to the hotel.
- Keys back at the hotelStaff walk-around at drop-off.
Good to know
- The beach drives best near low tide.
- Stay 50 feet from the wild horses. It’s county law, and it keeps them wild.
- Every driver must be 25 or older. Passengers ride along; bring car seats for little ones.
- Driving two? Swap at the Virginia line, so you each drive both.
Why this beach
The beach is the road
There is no pavement north of Corolla. Homes in Carova are reached over the sand, so this is real four-wheel drive on soft and packed sand, not a loop around the block.
The wild horses live here. They graze the dunes and the beach itself. You see them from your own 4x4, windows up or down.
You’ll remember where you decided. Not a dealer lot. A beach, with the ocean on one side, the dunes on the other and the Virginia line ahead.
The vehicles
The lineup
Every one is a current model year, supplied by one of our dealers, with one program price per trim set before you book.
Current model year5½-hour drive experience
Jeep Gladiator
A Wrangler with a pickup bed, the only pickup with a top that opens.
- Seats
- 5
- Top
- Opens
- Pickup bed
- Yes
Current model year5½-hour drive experience
Ram 1500 Rebel
Ram’s off-road half-ton, with coil springs at the rear instead of leaf springs for a softer ride over the ruts.
- Seats
- 5
- Size
- Full-size pickup
- Drive
- 4x4
Current model year5½-hour drive experience
Chevrolet Silverado Trail Boss
A two-inch factory lift and 34-inch tires: the tall one on the beach, with room for bikes, boards and the big cooler.
- Seats
- 5
- Size
- Full-size pickup
- Factory lift
- 2 in.
- Tires
- 34 in.
Current model year5½-hour drive experience
Ford Bronco
Ford named a Bronco trim after this place. Drive the Outer Banks on the Outer Banks.
- Seats
- 5
- Top
- Opens
- Trim named after
- The Outer Banks
Current model year5½-hour drive experience
Torn between two?
Read how they feel, side by side, starting with Bronco vs. Wrangler. Then book both and swap at the Virginia line.
Book your driveBefore you book
Who can drive
Everything is checked online before you arrive, so the hotel pickup is quick.
The Carolina Auto Program is run by Beach 4x4 of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, six years on this beach. The photos our customers post tell it better than we can.
- Drivers
- Every driver 25 or older
- License
- A valid driver’s license
- Insurance
- Full-coverage personal auto insurance (liability, collision and comprehensive). Your policy is primary while you drive it, the same as a rental, and the agreement you sign before pickup spells out who is responsible for what
- Damage waiver
- Optional, offered at booking
- Passengers
- Whoever rides with you. Every vehicle seats five
- Driving two
- Bring a second driver, also 25 or older
- Car seats
- Bring your own for little ones
- Checks
- Done online before your drive experience
- Price
- $325 for each vehicle you drive, for the full five and a half hours
- Our guarantee
- Beat your certificate price in writing within 30 days and the $325 comes back
Questions
Straight answers
Is there a salesperson?
No. Not in the seat, not at the hotel, not on the phone. Nobody rides along and nobody hurries you, and the dealer calls only if you ask. If you decide to buy, you call the one program contact named on your certificate; that person handles the paperwork, not a sales pitch.
Can we bring passengers?
Yes. Every vehicle seats five. Bring car seats for little ones.
Can we compare two?
Yes. Bring a second driver, 25 or older, and take two up the beach. Swap at the Virginia line, so you each drive both. Read how they compare first.
Never driven on sand?
That’s fine. The walk-around at pickup covers four-wheel drive and airing down, and the beach drives best near low tide. Our Outer Banks beach driving guide covers the rest.
Do I have to live near the dealer?
No. Within the dealer’s own delivery area, it delivers to your door. Beyond that, your vehicle ships to a dealer near your home, which hands over the keys and handles your title and tags for a flat fee that your dealer arranges before the certificate is issued and prints on it. The sale is still with the dealer on your certificate, at the certificate price.
Do I have to take what’s on the lot?
No. The program is built around the factory order. You drive the off-road trim on the beach, then order the trim you want in the color and with the options you want, at the certificate price. If the ordering store happens to have your exact build in stock, you can take that instead.
How long does a factory order take?
Weeks to a few months, depending on the brand and the plant. It is ordered in your name, which the factory schedules ahead of lot inventory, and you hear from us the same day every time the status changes. If you would rather not wait, say so when you order and the ordering store will trade for a matching build already on its way to another dealer, if there is one.
Do I have to buy?
No. If none of them is right, let the certificate lapse. You still had five and a half hours on the beach.
Why would the dealer give program drivers a better price?
Because you are the cheapest sale it will make all month. You paid $325 to drive the off-road trim for five and a half hours, your license and insurance were checked before you arrived, and you decided on the sand. The dealer skips the ads, the salesperson’s afternoon and the shoppers who leave to look at the other brand, so it can sell for less and still come out ahead. The price is set before you book and is the same for every program driver. If anyone beats it in writing within 30 days, your $325 comes back.
What if I find a better price?
Bring us a lower written out-the-door price on the same new vehicle, same trim and options, within the 30 days, and your $325 comes back. The dealer’s discount on your certificate holds for all 30 days; factory cash is whatever the manufacturer is offering the day you sign.
Who pays if something happens to the vehicle?
Your own full-coverage policy, the same as a rental, which is why every driver needs one. You will have it anyway the day you take delivery of a new vehicle. An optional damage waiver is offered at booking, for people who would rather not involve their insurer.
Which dealer do I buy from?
One of ours: the store for that brand that agreed to our terms before the first driver was sent its way. You’ll have the store’s name, your one contact there and the certificate price in writing before you decide anything. What our dealers agree to.
Do I have to haggle?
No. The dealer sets one price for program drivers before you ever book. There is nothing to negotiate.
When do I see the price?
After the experience. Our dealer for that brand emails you a numbered certificate with its out-the-door price, good for 30 days. If you find it beaten in writing, the $325 comes back. It isn’t in any ad or on this site: the drive is what gets it, the way a membership gets the Costco price.
What does out-the-door mean?
Everything you pay to drive it home: the vehicle, the dealer’s fees, and your state’s tax and tags. Nothing gets added at the desk.
What does no-haggle pricing mean?
One price for the vehicle, the same for every program driver, and nothing to negotiate. If you’ve bought through the Costco Auto Program or a credit union’s car buying service, it’s that kind of price, without the membership. How those programs work, and how this is different.
Is this the Costco Auto Program?
No. Beach 4x4 isn’t connected to Costco, USAA, AAA or any buying service, and there’s nothing to join.
When can I book?
Any time of year. Drives run all year, two a day at most, with shorter days in winter. Pick your date and vehicle below and we confirm by email the same day.
What does it cost?
$325 for each vehicle you drive, paid to Beach 4x4.
Book your drive · $325 a vehicle · All year
Pick your date. We confirm today.
Request your date
We confirm by email the same day, with the booking link for your $325 and the online license and insurance check. Nothing is charged until your date is confirmed. Questions? Call or text (252) 564-4218.
Renting, not buying?
Beach 4x4 rents 4x4s for the Corolla and Carova beach, open all year, seven days a week.