V-TEC using engine oil?

Just to start a discussion...

When I first bought my Civic, I waited until about 6,000 to change the oil, because that's what the manual called for. It was still being broken in, so to speak.

So after I dropped my oil, I noticed there was a real lack of dirty oil drained from the pan. I poured it over to discover that it did not even fill up a 1/2 gallon milk jug.

Off the top of my head 4 quarts = 1 gallon.

Less than 1/2 gallon of drained oil would equal less than half the amount of original oil that the engine should have had.

Now I noticed for about 1,000 miles prior to dropping the oil that car sputtered a bit in the higher ends of each gear. But I just assumed it was because it was a new car and needed to be broken in and that it was just powerbanding a bit when the V-TEC kicked in.

But when I realized it had less than half the oil remaining in the pan than it should have had, I became concerned.

I took it back Honda and told them of my problem since it is still under warranty. They told me the V-TEC solenoid used engine oil and that when it was new it may have used it in excess. They also told me to keep an eye on the oil levels and see what happened.

So since then I have and I see the levels drop a bit, but not to the extent that they did that first time. For instance, when I change the oil I fill it up to about the top of the dip stick marker. But when I go to change the next time it is below midway on the dip stick.

So my question is: Were they bullshitting me? Might I have a problem with a new car? Or does the V-TEC in fact use engine oil on a regular basis and I must continue to monitor its usage?

Has anyone ever heard of this or perhaps run into this same problem? Or is it really not a problem?

Input please...