Thanks again. I do appreciate the extensive knowledge and experience responders have been showing here.
I do not know the statistics on when the average consumer trades in their vehicle (at what mileage), but this point may be pertinent to the discussion as well. If most people, as I would suspect, have traded their Maxima in before the excessive oil consumption has taken place, it is left for the second owner to notice. Another point is that the theorized cause would most often follow standard diagnosed lines. Even when the real initiating cause may have resulted by the CAT sand or breakdown, it would also be true that the excessive oil consumption is being caused by worn rings.