True. Nissan stuck with an old design 4-speed slushbox for the Micra in Canada, and you'd think that would bode well for reliability vs. a CVT.
But there have actually been more reports of auto trans problems with the Micra than with the Mirage (going solely by forum reports).
FYI, the CVT7 model used in the Mirage/Spark/Versa Note has been in production globally for 6+ years. If there were design flaws/longevity problems, I think we'd know about it by now.
Information about the Mirage CVT (Jatco CVT7 JF015E) operation, video, diagrams - MirageForum.com
One Mirage forum member maintains a fleet of 25+ Mirage delivery vehicles in Alberta. He's seen a CVT failure there. But he praises the durability of the Mirage much more than the previous generation Spark which they used to run.