Ok, so it uses some oil (which is a shock having had the miata for 10 years and 91k miles with it *never* using a drop of oil between services)

I think I can be of some service there. Which model is it? Is it that GLX one, with the turbo-charged engine? Because if it is then I think that's what does it. My Eclipse has a turbo engine and it uses alot of oil. That's not all that bad, but having that turbo charged engine means more check-ups and oil changes. In fact, we screwed up thinking that the oil change was farther away than it was, and we voided our warranty on the thing. So that sucks.

On a side note about oil, I once had an Oldsmobile Silhouette (you know, the "Cadillac of minivans from Get Shorty). Anyway, I loved that van. It felt and drove like a car, was pretty light, and had some cool features (graphic equalizer that came out on one of those bendable poles that let me control alot of the stereo). Anyway, turns out that when my mom was driving it for a long period, she forgot to put oil in it even after the oil light came on. Well, that shot the engine and it started stalling at akward times, like in the very middle of an intersection. But naturally, that only happened when I drove it

DiGNAN
13653
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Matt