In March I bought a new style Honda Civic (petrol). After about 6000 miles, an oil warning light appeared. As I was miles from anywhere I rang the Honda garage, which told me to contact the AA. Their mechanic, having added 1 litre of oil to the engine, found no evidence of escaping oil. He said that the only explanation was that insufficient oil had been added before the car was delivered to me. I contacted my garage to complain and I was told, in writing, “oil usage can be up to 1 litre per 800 miles.”

In none of my previous new cars have I ever had to add oil between services so I find this hard to believe.