Tell that to the people who had to get their engines overhauled at 20K KMs for a brand new car that they spent ~30 lakh on. Still, even if you buy Turbo today, restriction of high octane still applies which it did on day 1.
Grande and Civic Turbo both have paddle shifters. Not buttons on steering for changing gears. Audio control buttons on steering are not for changing gears.
If 2010 Cruisetronic sucks so so much why keep it for this long? I have kept the same and still keep a 2012 8th gen prosmatec. Transmission wise both are "OK". Nothing to write home about.
Although current sedan shape is discontinued in US, below link will give you an idea of its features:
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/toyota/corolla/2018/specs/corolla-xle-cvt-(natl)-393321