high oil consumption?

A guy I work with has a 2006 CR-V with 58,000 miles that is using about one quart of oil every 1,000 miles. He bought it used from a local Honda dealer as a one owner with 52,000 miles on it so he has no history. The dealer says this uasage is within service limits, and while I agree that may have been the case many years ago, with today's technology this amount seems excessive. There are no external leaks and you can't see anything out the exhaust. Has anyone else experienced this kind of oil consumption?

Does he get a puff of smoke when he starts the car cold/hot, or a puff of smoke coming off of a stop light? If so it could be the valve guide seals are gone.
Jeff

There is no smoke. It's got to be burning it and it's not detectable. This conversation started when he asked if he could change from synthetic back to petroleum-based oil because he was spending $7 a quart two times between oil changes. He wouldn't even have known there was a problem if the low oil light wouldn't have flickered 2000 miles into his oil change. I told him he is stuck as far as the dealer is concerned. What bothers me is no one would want this car knowing that it used a quart a thousand and they got book value for it.