Originally posted by Jackal1
So...........your car is using oil ? I wonder why.......... 
Jackal!!! Well, my understanding of it goes like this. The cylinders will eventually have a slightly ovoid shape when the engine is bedded in, caused by the slight sideways motion associated with the crank mechanism. When an engine is new, there's no way the makers can machine the pistons/cylinders to make a perfect fit in view of this, so the original fit is deliberately set a little tight to allow for the running in process. The pistons will be bedded in after a few thousand miles. During the first 1500km, the vehicle manufacture cautions against excessive engine speeds. In the old days of long stroke engines (1960s) some cars had to be driven very carefully indeed - no more than about 50mph. (The Morris Minor had to be driven at no more than 30mph for the first 500 miles! But that was a bread and butter car with a 4 cylinder engine for the masses - it would be of no interest to you) The crucial thing here is mean piston speed. With today's short stroke engines, improved oils and engineering techniques, the running in requirements are much less stringent. They just say don't use full throttle in that first 1500km, don't go past 4000rpm, don't tow anything and don't go faster than ¾ of the vehicle's top speed - so I was able to do 90mph from the first day.
During this time when the engine is bedding in, it is understandable that a small amount of oil will be consumed. This tallies exactly with the oil consumption of my original Golf VR6 - Within the first 10,000 miles, I had to add about a litre of oil. After that, it never used any oil between services, which on that car were at 10,000 mile intervals. I kept that car for 3½ years and 66,000 miles. The next car I had with a modified version of the same V6 engine never needed any oil added at all! It went about 13,000 miles between services. The one after that was my 1.9L diesel. Again, it needed a small amount of oil in the first 10,000 miles - and I think it needed about another 1 litre in the next 38,000 miles. But again, this is normal and I was told to expect it with a diesel engine. In fact my overall oil consumption was less than VW told me to expect.
So - my bumper sticker says "adopt a "dealership", and yours reads "adopt an engine oil retailer"
