The first thing you need to do is keep adding oil until it’s at the right level and tell us how much was needed. That will give us some idea of how much damage you might have caused.
I’ll just reinforce the comments above that correctly say that the owner is expected to check the oil regularly. Chances are that you’ve lost an expensive gamble here.
Most car makers recommend that oil level be checked every time you get gas.
And that’s a good place to start with a new-to-you car.
+1
Once you “get a handle” on a car’s rate of oil consumption, then it is possible to check it less often, but with any car–be it new or used–not checking it at least weekly for the first couple of months can be… expensive.
I agree. The car is on level ground and you have a couple minutes to spare. Give the oil a minute to settle while the gas is pumping. The station has paper towels, so it’s the perfect time to check. Know where the “add oil” mark is on the dipstick and add a quart as needed.
This will give you an idea of how much oil is being used… and dealers often skip steps when inspecting a car. (The inspections may be done by their car-wash kid.) Despite the horror story, you may not have harmed your car. No, the light on this model will only come on when you have lost oil pressure. My GF lost oil pressure, drove our van 8 blocks instead of backing into the drive, and the engine wasn’t toast. (Not a great idea, of course.)
Sometimes there will be no leaks. If the engine has bad valve seals (like our van) it can use a quart in 1000 miles. The Lacrosse was one of the models that GM put out with an engine defect that caused it to use oil. They had a recall in 2014, but didn’t fix most cars. https://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1093036_gm-is-fixing-some-smoky-engines-under-warranty
The car can still give many years of proper service.
Ty you for all your help
You probably were at least 2.5 down…you may have been so low that the one quart you added didn’t show up on dipstick. To see if oil pressure light is working turn your key to 2ND POSITION (on) but without starting the engine. Oil light should come on.
I 2nd the opinion that all might not be lost here. Let us know how it goes. And check the oil again!! One quart brings it from the “add” line to the “full line”. You seemingly havent gotten it to the “add” line yet. And as the other poster mentioned, make sure youre on a level spot and the engine has been off for at least 10 minutes. Also, make sure youre pulling the oil dipstick (usually yellow in GM vehicles) and not the transmission dipstick (usually red in GM vehicles).