Done 6500 miles in my FL2 (6 months) and checked the oil level last week to find it just above the minimum notch on the dipstick. Went to Halfords and bought 1ltr of Castrol Magnetec oil. Put approx 0.75 litres in and now level is ok. It might be me, but the engine seems to run a lot smoother and quieter now (like it was when I first bought the car) - is this because the original oil was low, or maybe it gets too 'dirty' after a while ? Or is it normal for a new engine to use oil fast and needs topping up sooner ? And I won't mention it took me over an hour with a coathanger to retrieve the dropped oil cap from the bottom of the engine bay.....

Rather you didnt mention it because it prompts the question what the heck you were doing to get it stuck there. Anyway, I used a litre of oil during year one. It's reasonably normal.

It was cold... numb hands... so just dropped the filler cap whilst screwing it back on... why has someone not invented a magnetic cap so you can stick it somewhere ?!!
Thanks for the oil advice !

Magnetic fuel cap would pick bits of metal up, deposit them in your oil and that isn't good! If you think your engine was running slightly rough...

I think it's acceptable for them to use 1 litre every 3000 miles or so? Ours had about a litre in after a couple of thousand. I blame it on the bedding in process and the fact there is not 1000 mile first service. Mine: 2012 Golf GTI Edition 35
Family's: 2009 Freelander 2 HSE TD4 Auto, Stornoway

Yorkshire - God's County

In two years, despite regular checking, I never had to add any oil to my TD4, oil change at service one year in. This was from c.6500 miles to c.24700 miles. Perhaps they use more early on? better check my new one!. On another thread someone suggested an oil change at 6000 or 6 months. Any thoughts?
JT Upgraded to an ex demo, 7 mth old, Rimini Red/Ebony Napoli Auto HSE on 28th Jan 2011, added roof rails, mudflaps and side strips.
Gone - A great 57 Plate, Auto SE, Bought Feb 2009, Roof Rails and Mudflaps added on purchase. Blue colour, anything but drug dealer black.....

I came to a FL2 from a BMW and this question of early oil changes came up every 5 minutes.

The scheduled change on a BM is 20K and bearing in mind early turbo failures on diesels many ' car' people did an intermediate change i.e. at 10K.

I know of no such turbo problems with the FL2 ( any comments) and bearing in mind the 15K or 1 year service requirement I doubt that a 6 month change would be anything other than expensive.

Modern oil is excellent stuff and I am pretty confident in its ability to last 15K in our uk conditions

My 07 has used just under a litre in 13000 miles, but it does have a slight oil leak. Consumption will probably go down as your engine beds in, but basically it's a combination of driving technique and your individual engine. Some use a bit of oil, and some don't.

My TD4 used 0.5 ltrs of oil in first 3 months/3.5K miles from new, then has used 0.5 ltrs every 6 months/6k miles. So i would say your usage was normal.