2012 Honda Civic Not Recommended by Consumer Reports

The 2012 Civic performed too poorly in Consumer Reports' road test to be make the cut despite good reliability and high MPG.

The Civic scored 61 out of 100, placing next-to-last in the small-sedan category. (the Volkswagen Jetta took those dubious honors).

At the top of the list: The Hyundai Elantra, Subaru Impreza and Toyota Corolla.

Civic's bottoming out contrasts with its past performance as one of the highest-rated small cars ever tested at the publication.

The 2012 Civic, however, garnered only average scores in acceleration, emergency handling, braking, ride comfort and tire noise.

Looking at the bright side, the 2012 Civic scored an average fuel economy rating of 30 mpg, second only to the Corolla.

There are some who criticize the Consumer Reports ratings and advise car buyers to test-drive all cars they're interested in.

Several other publications ranked the Civic near the top three when compared to the competition.

For example, MotorTrend placed the Civic 2nd out of 8 competitors in their 8 Compact Sedan Shootout

Cars.com placed the Civic #2 out of 5 Sedans in their Under $20,000 and Over 35 mpg

And Automobile Magazine placed the Civic 3rd in their Small Car 6-Pack Shootout.