Joe -
I wish I could see what you're talking about, by the '02 I recently bought doesn't have an Owner's Manual
If, however, it says exactly what you wrote "...to consume up to 1 quart of oil after 600 miles," then my assumption is that they mean after the
first 600 miles. I've never owned a new vehicle, so I can't say for sure, but I know that after you rebuild an engine, you can expect to burn a little extra oil for the first few hundred until the rings are well seated. Of course, you would usually change the oil a couple of times in that first few hundred miles on a rebuild, so I've never actually seen how much burns.
By the way, wish me luck. The "new" van in my driveway had its oil changed recently by the PO, but somehow arrived at my house about half a quart low. I haven't put many miles on it yet, but I'm really hoping it was underfilled and didn't burn that fast. Anybody know at what kind of burn rate I would expect to see smoke out the pipe? I don't see anything now, even on startup in the morning.