That was a big first post, you "really" have a liking for the Valvoline Restore & Protect? Maybe I should try this magic soon.
I was a bit excited when I made this post as this was something I managed to fix with no suggestions or feedback from the mechanics I contacted about this problem. Whenever I brought it up to a mechanic, I usually got a blank stare or suggestions like "time to get a new car", "new engine", "used engine" etc. For some reason they did not suggest an engine flush at any place that I contacted or even something like HPL. Maybe that's just the state of mechanics on Long Island but I was researching a replacement car when I ran across VRP while searching for oil burning issues on other engines.
It was my final attempt at fixing the oil burning issue on my car (2007 Lexus GS350) which burned through almost a quart in a 300 mile highway trip at 125K miles. I tried switching to full synthetic, MMO conventional + synthetic and a few BGR additives and it had essentially plateaued at 1000 miles / quart.
I took the VRP to my mechanic each time and had him do the oil change. My progression went as follows with a top off after each check:
First oil change
First 1K miles = 1 quart
Next 1K miles = 1 quart
Next 1K miles = about .4 quart
Next 2K miles = about .6 quart
Second oil change
First 1K miles = about .2 quart
Next 1K miles = about .2 quart
Next 1K miles = 1 mm drop in level (did not try to top it off)
Next 2K miles = seems to be no change
Right now the oil is basically a dark honey color but still looks clear.
It seems like a lot of people are treating it more like an engine flush rather than a regular oil. Some posts and youtube videos have people swapping filters or performing oil changes after every 500 miles etc. I only had the oil change done and kept monitoring it every 1K when possible and topping it off to subdue the low oil alert. One wild-assed guess I'm going to make is the 4 oil changes requirement might be to ensure that people who do 3K oil changes still manage to use the oil for over 10K miles.