This has been a hot topic for some time. I'll start with the fact that Prelude VTEC models burn oil. They do. When you hit VTEC, you will burn a little. I have seen that an average is about a quart to 1.5 every oil change. Every Prelude VTEC I know of does it. Honda will tell you that it is normal, and it really is. Just make sure you check it every fuel up, and you will be fine. No bad seals, gaskets, bearings, or rings. That's just the inherent properties of the engine design. Having said that, if you are burning more there may be a problem. I don't know for sure, and it may be tough to prove to a dealer considering these engines have a certain burnoff tollerance. My Prelude burns about 1 quart every change, and that is exactly what it did at 5,000 miles. Yes, I was carefull on break-in (first 1000 miles didn't hit VTEC, shifted under 3000 rpm), but that is also a miss-nomer...... Honda redline's every engine in every gear including reverse the second they are at the end of the assembly line when they are ice cold -- no warm up (quality control, eh?). If you are burning 2 or more quarts every change, I would say that is a problem. But you will need to be persistant on proving this to Honda. Remember, there is a tollerable amount of burnoff, so they may keep telling you no.