The redesigned-for-2012 Honda Civic LX scored too low in Consumer Reports testing to be recommended. Let that sink in for a minute. It’s quite a fall.

The Civic has long ranked among CR’s top small sedans, having been a Top Pick as late as 2007. It’s also long been reliable, and we don’t expect that to change in the not-extensively-redesigned 2012 model.

So what happened? The new Civic feels insubstantial with a cheap interior. You don’t get much feature content for the $19,405 that our Civic LX automatic costs, either. That’s a problem given the high bar set in this class by the new-to-market Chevrolet Cruze, the redesigned-for-2012 Ford Focus, and the redesigned-for-2011 Hyundai Elantra.