Honda Civic Fails Consumer Reports’ Tests, Elantra moves up

By Alan Ohnsman - Aug 1, 2011 4:33 PM PT

Honda Motor Co.’s newest version of the Civic, a model that’s been a foundation of the automaker’s U.S. sales for decades, flopped in tests by Consumer Reports, failing to win the magazine’s coveted “Recommended” status.

The 2012 Civic scored 61 in Consumer Report’s evaluation, down from 78 for the previous Civic, according to a review in the September issue published this week. The car, on sale since late April, scored poorly because of a decline in agility and interior quality, choppier ride, longer stopping distances, and more road noise compared with the last Civic, the magazine said.

“While other models like the Hyundai Elantra have gotten better after being redesigned, the Civic has dropped so much that now it ranks near the bottom of its category,” David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports’ auto test center, Connecticut, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. MORE