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Enterprise Sells Car To Teen Without License. Then She Gets A Phone Call: 'What We Doing?'

"What we doing?"

Enterprise Sells Car To Teen Without License. Then She Gets A Phone Call

Photo by: taintedheart32 & Richard O'Donoghue

JT Wilson

By: JT Wilson

Mar 15, at 8:00am ET

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Update March 28: This story has been updated to add comment from Enterprise denying the woman's claims.

A Michigan mother says Enterprise Car Sales sold her daughter a vehicle even after the teen disclosed she doesn’t have a driver’s license. Days later, the lending company called to say it couldn’t finalize the loan. In a March TikTok video, she said the family couldn’t get a straight answer on whether they would get the $2,000 down payment back.

Loverslaw25 (@taintedheart32) shared her story on TikTok. She gives details of a purchase that purportedly went wrong at the Enterprise location on Grand River in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

In an email sent after publication, Enterprise Car Sales spokesperson Cassie Shaw said, “Enterprise Car Sales takes very seriously our commitment to ensuring all transactions are valid and fulfill all appropriate legal requirements."

Shaw added, “The customer involved in this transaction is in her mid-thirties, not a teenager”

Shaw continued, “The customer initially provided a Michigan state ID card at the time of purchase and then later a valid driver’s permit which was used during the financing process for the vehicle. This matter has been amicably resolved.

“It’s also worth noting that the customer has voluntarily removed the video,” Shaw concluded.

Loverslaw25 did not respond to Motor1’s request for comment, but she did delete the initial video.

‘She Told The Lady’

According to Loverslaw25, her daughter was clear with the salesperson from the start.

"We told the young lady up front she had [no] license. The girl was like, ‘Yeah, okay, come through,’" she says in the video. She says the application was approved, her daughter put $2,000 down, and the two drove off the lot — with Loverslaw25 behind the wheel since she has a valid license.

Then the phone started ringing. "The lending company, Global Lending, kept calling my daughter," she explains. "They discovered, when they was trying to finalize the loan, that she doesn’t have [a] license."

Loverslaw25 says she tried to step in. "I told the manager, look, put me on. I have [a] license, I have income, we put our income together," she says. But after seven days with the vehicle and multiple calls to the dealership, she says she still hasn’t resolved the situation.

"Give my daughter her money back, or what we doing? Because at this point it’s time for legal action," she says, adding that she plans to contact the attorney general.

Can You Finance A Car Without A License?

The situation raises a question: Is it possible to finance a car without a driver’s license?

The short answer is that there’s no law against it. As commenter ShaeK.47 put it, "There is no law that says you cannot purchase a vehicle because you don’t have a license. The law only states you cannot legally operate the vehicle without a license."

However, financing introduces complications. While some lenders will accept a state ID in place of a driver’s license, many require a valid license before they’ll fund a loan. That’s because lenders usually require borrowers to carry full coverage insurance on the vehicle, and most insurance companies need to see a driver’s license before they issue a policy.

In other words, the dealership may approve you on the spot, but the deal can still fall apart once the lender tries to finalize the paperwork.

Enterprise Car Sales: Not Quite Enterprise Rent-A-Car

It may come as a surprise that Enterprise Car Sales is a separate division from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, though both are operated by the same parent company. Enterprise Car Sales specializes in selling used vehicles, many of which are former rental cars. The division advertises a seven-day buyback policy that allows buyers to return a vehicle within seven days or 1,000 miles, whichever comes first, minus a $200 restocking fee.

That seven-day window is notable here. Loverslaw25 says she made the video on the seventh day after the purchase.

"It’s the seventh day we have [had] this vehicle," she says. Whether Enterprise’s return policy applies when a loan falls through, and whether the family is entitled to a full refund of the down payment, remains to be seen.

Commenters Are Split

The comment section was divided on who to blame. Several commenters sided with the family. "If they can’t fund the loan they have to give her money back," wrote Cali Red, adding, "Loan companies can’t finance an unlicensed driver. They didn’t do their due diligence."

Others were less sympathetic. "Why would you advocate to have your daughter purchase a car without a license?" wrote Willie Taylor. Te’ Mari added, "So, how is that they fault? Why she don’t have a license?"

Commenter CC shared a personal experience suggesting the purchase itself isn’t unusual, posting, "Not true. My sister bought a car with a suspended license. She had DUI, her license was not restored yet. You def can finance a car without a license."

The distinction between buying and registering drew some debate. Nino_Brown wrote, "You cannot register the car without [a] license, hence where the problem lies." But others, including dmvfauxlocs, pushed back, writing, "Yes you can!"

In Michigan, vehicle registration requires proof of insurance, which creates a ban in practice for unlicensed buyers even if no law directly prevents them from registering a vehicle.

What Can Buyers Do?

The situation highlights a gap between what’s technically legal and what’s practically possible. A dealership may process the sale and accept a down payment from someone without a license, but if the lender won’t fund the loan, the buyer can be left in limbo.

What do you think?

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Bankrate advises car buyers without a valid license to resolve that issue before attempting to finance a vehicle. For buyers who find themselves in a similar situation, consumer protection agencies and the state attorney general’s office can help mediate disputes over refunds.

Motor1 reached out to Enterprise Car Sales parent company Enterprise Media via email and to Loverslaw25 via TikTok direct message. We’ll be sure to update this if they respond.

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