Honestly this situation doesn't look that bad to me considering we are observing a very small sample size and the far majority are having no problems whatsoever. I think the chances of something going wrong with the CVT are probably less than something major going wrong in almost any other car/make/model but that's just my opinion. I'm pretty easy on my cars so I don't think I will have any problems but if I do then I will probably just replace the CVT and let it go another 100k or so.
Even the Outback forum has a very small percentage of owners that have issues with their CVTs so that is promising.
I wish you luck with you next vehicle Wharf Rat and hope you are pleased with it. Maybe report back on what you get and give us a little review/comparison. Thanks.
What kind of driving do you do? Mostly highway, mostly city, what percentage mix? Just trying to get an idea how city/highway driving affects these CVTs.