Despite the Skoda badge, there’s an awful lot of Volkswagen engineering in the Fabia. In fact, as part of the broader VW family, all modern Skodas have essentially VW platforms, engines and transmissions fitted to them.

It will come as no surprise to many VW owners that the engines and transmissions of the era of your car were more problematic than they should have been. Many Golf and Polo owners have found out the hard way that the 1.4 twin-charger engine (in particular) was prone to problems and early failures of components including the timing chain.

If caught within the warranty period, these components should have been changed by Skoda as part of its warranty responsibilities, but ten years down the track, the picture is a lot blurrier. The way to proceed is to approach Skoda Australia’s customer service department and explain the situation. Perhaps the company will help with the cost of repairs on a pro-rata basis (given the low mileage your car has covered) but don’t count on it. You also have recourse to the ACCC on the basis that the car was not of an acceptable quality or fit for purpose (this would probably need to be independently verified).

Meanwhile, the short answer is that 48,000km of normal use would not be considered to be an acceptable lifespan for a component such as an engine’s timing chain. Timing chains are designed to last the entire life of the engine. But in too many cases, we’re seeing that that simply isn’t the case.

Both are fun cars to drive, they’re relatively new, so should be reliable. I would prefer the Swift; I reckon you’ll get a better run out of it.