I've experienced a cvt failure so I can share what I've learned. The car is a second hand Nissan Murano which had 80K on the clock. I didn't use the car for towing, but it had an tow bar fitted and with the rust marks on it, so I assume the previous owner towed with it. I first noticed the problem during steep hill climbs. It would rev very high for the speed I was going, and acceleration uphill from stop is abnormally slow. When I got out the car to examine things I noticed a strong burning oil smell from the transmission and I think I saw smoke coming from it or heat waves. After talking with a local mechanic he recons the transmission in the Murano are rubbish and this one is about to fail. And he reckons cvt should only be used on light vehicles and not for heavy load like towing due to the way it works.