Actually the dealer personnel are only quoting Ford's (and most other auto makers) standards. Ford's warranty and policy manual states that oil consumption of up to 900 miles to a quart of oil is a normal situation and Ford will not pay for oil consumption repairs unless heavier oil consumption is tested and documented.
An oil consumption test is started with a fresh oil change with a new filter. Oil must be added and documented by the dealer with the miles logged.
That said, I agree that this standard is antiquated. Many of today's engines use no measurable oil between changes. Mine doesn't and most customer do not expect to need to add oil between changes.
Most high performance engines from the factory are no longer built to looser specs so this idea is also antiquated. Most all of todays engine specifications are so precise that they are no longer expressed in thousands of an inch, but rather in tenths of thousands of an inch.
Originally posted by Steve:
Dealership service would tell you that losing one quart every 5000 kms is normal. Doesn't seem normal to me, but they think so.
