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Robin,
A cat converter cannot be "serviced", it either works or doesn't. However, a car with only 135K miles is too young to have a dead cat.
The way the engine computer determine cat efficiency is to compare the reading of the exhaust going in (front O2 sensor) to the exhaust coming out (rear O2 sensor). The electrical values of the O2 sensors must be within certain parameters or the computer will signal a fault because you will be polluting the atmosphere too much.
The error does not mean that the cat is bad, it means that the front and rear sensors do not fall within the guidelines. A "bad" cat is usually clogged up so bad that the engine will not rev because it is restricted and exhaust cannot leave the engine - like a potato stuck in the tail pipe.
So long as your car runs fine, the cat should be OK. If most of your driving is around town with very little high speed driving, like tach seldom going over 2000 rpm, your exhaust might be full of water? You live in a damp climate and it is possible. If there is a steep hill not too far away, try this: Let the engine warm up to normal temps. Stop at the begining of the incline and put the gear in L. Floor it! All the way up to 5000rpm. Look in the rearview mirror for water on the pavement or a lot of steam. Careful, you will be going over the speed limit?
If the car won't go past 3-3500 rpm, your cat is clogged.
Can your mechanic tell you what the values are for the front and rear O2 sensors? The front one will vary a little, the rear should stay steady at around .2V
Some people around the world have cleaned the cavity the O2 sensors reside in and put the sensor back in place, which seems to work. Surprising.
I know you are trying to sell this nice car and don't want to invest a lot of money. I don't blame you, I wouldn't either. Tell your mechanic you are not going to buy a new cat, but could he just clean the sensors? By the way, did he install a Bosh sensor up front or a generic one?
Klaus
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I still miss my 164 and my 854T. Just driving a V70R :)
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