I too have always thought it normal. I've owned Nissan, Honda, Lexus, Toyota, Chevy, Mitsubishi and several Fords (all since the early/mid nineties...I'm an early 30 something). They all used some oil at one time or another. Maybe it's the Texas heat. Maybe it's the Houston commute. But they all used oil.

 

I previously owned a new chevy truck that used a qt of oil between changes, 3000 mi. GM did nothing, my 07 150 so far uses 1/2 qt between changes, these companies will tell you anything. If you wanted a partly wore-out vehicle I wouldn't have bought a new one.

 

My 2000 F-150 burned a quart every oil change, my 2002 F-150 burned none, and my 2005 burns 1.5 quarts during the winter months, and one quart during the summer months between oil changes. All were 5.4's.

 

One thing to remember also: when you check your oil, pull the stick and wipe it clean, put it back and pull it again and read it. Oil will sometimes creep up the dipstick if it sits for several hours, giving you a false reading.

 

Guess some of you blokes either are very unlucky or are doing something wrong. As for me, if my new truck started using oil (using to me is more than 16 ounces in a 5000 mile OCI) I would be horrified. I bought my first new car in 1967, and like I said, only one has burned oil and I did that to it myself. The last vehicle I sold was a 1996 Cherokee I bought new. Even that never used oil (115K miles). Some kid got it, and believe it or not, it's still on the road after two years. Now, there is one thing that a lot of people do that's wrong and could lead to oil consumption. Apparently not believing the owner's manual, they change the original oil at 500 miles, thinking it's some kind of special 'break-in oil', instead of keeping it in for the full recommended interval. They haven't used 'break-in' oil for fifty years. Another thing is, they go up in viscosity, thinking they know better than the factory engineers - they don't.

 

I'm not sure how changing oil at 500 miles could be considered wrong in the sense that it would cause increased oil consumption. Maybe wrong in that it wastes good oil.

I've been changing my own oil for 30+ years (isn't curbside oil pick-up great) and I've never drained out as much as was put in, whether 4, 5, 5.5, 6.5 or 7 quarts was added. What I have noticed is oil consumption would increase significantly when I drive hard and/or exceed 70 mph a lot- I've driven for mpg for a number of years now but do sometimes have a need to "pick up the pace". So if I have a number of long fast trips (I usually make the 400 mile roundtrip Lake Tahoe run 20-50 times a year) I will often have to add a .5-1 quart in between oil changes.

Think about this for a moment- As bad as it sucks to have an engine burn through a quart+ per oil change, is it really something to spend time worrying about.

Let's do math- Say the vehicle goes 200k w/ oil changes every 5k. That would be 40 oil changes. Add a quart in between oil changes and you are only at 40 quarts- say $3-4 per quart and you're looking at $120-160 in the life of the vehicle. Does it suck - yes. Is it worth your time and effort to have something done about- IMHO probably not. Is it worth the resources it will take to make the engine not burn oil- IMHO absolutely not.

My 06 burns more oil than any truck I've owned ever owned- I consistently have to add .5 quarts between oil changes to keep the the oil level in between min & max. But then again I've been driving this vehicle a little faster than some previous trucks and stretching the change interval to around 5k.

Tim

 

Pilot10: Amen!

I've learned, with human doctors, as well as car doctors, that's it's better to keep their mitts off your equipment as much as possible... even under warranty. I heard a comment once from a vehicle manufacturer's service rep that said many ongoing warranty problems were dealer competence problems. Taking a vehicle in for warranty work for a relatively minor problem that requires a major teardown is risky, IMO. I'd rather not have some flat-rater tear my engine down to do a slap-dash job that may (or may not) fix one problem, but creates another due to slipshod work. I've been through a lot of engine factories and I've wrenched at dealerships. Unless it was me doing the work , in all my perfection , or someone I knew and trusted, I'd rather have a factory built engine that uses a bit of oil than an engine that's been "fixed" by a flat-rater.

I know there are some current or ex-techs out there. No insult intended to anyone in particular. I did it for 20 years before changing careers, so I'd be insulting myself, but you know the guys I'm talking about. Some shops I worked in had a high level of competence and honesty... others were a nest of flat-raters that took every shortcut known to man... and some not discovered yet... to get the current job out the door and the next one in the bay.