A friend went to buy an old second Toyota 1.3 SE, with only about 30k on the clock. it had all the paper work and was obviously a genuince milage.
The fact that it was about eleven years old (with the 4E-FE, 16v 1.3 engine) really meant that it spent a lot of its life just standing about.
After he had driven it for ten minutes of so, in very cold damp weather, he got out and asked his companion to rev the engine while he went to look at the exhaust pipe.
It threw out plenty of white smoke (a usual thing in cold weather after just starting), but it also had that stinky oily smell typical of something that is burning oil.
The bloke selling the car said, it doesnt burn oil, its just been standing around for so long, just not being used. Of course he would say something like that if he was dishonest, but he seemed a genuine bloke.
Is there any reason that a car that was just not used much, might throw out smelly oily exhaust after a short run on a cold day. Or is it really likely to be an oil burner?