CVT's are unfortunately boring so I don't know why I bother to defend it, but work is slow today.
It's a relatively new tech but I don't think short term failures are inevitable and have not been consistent across implementations. As far as simplicity they beat autos hands down, much fewer moving parts. I would prefer the DCT especially since I tow occasionally but comparing reliability on the Corolla's first gen CVT is still cherry picking. Why ignore the huge number of extremely reliable Prii? That CVT is tending to outlast the car. Nissan guarantees their newest implementation of CVT to 120k. The old were crap.
The FJ had a defective bell housing that ruined the throw out bearings in the 2007s. Honda had a class action suit over the TL's auto and very nearly again over the odyssey. There are terrible implementations of every transmission technology, don't throw the baby out with the bath water.