CVT gearboxes

[Perry Mitchell]

Completely OT from Cappos, but I know most of you good folk have other cars and I need some advice.
Our 'family' car is currently a Scenic. It has to be an 'auto' for her indoors but I can downsize a little, but I would love to keep as much as possible of the MPV versatility.
The current one is coming up 5 years old and has suffered two expensive problems. This is our second Scenic - the first broke the gearbox and I am a bit paranoid about suffering a similar fault with this one. I was dismayed to learn recently that life expectancy for these boxes 'in the trade' is reckoned at only 40k!
Although there are now far more small MPVs than when I first bought the Scenic in '98, there is still a problem with finding auto boxes. In terms of reliability record, I am very attracted to the Honda Jazz but I have no experience of CVT gearboxes.
Any advice or stories relevant will be gratefully received.