I just bought some front brake pads for my '11 LX sedan. They were too big. Went back to parts store with OEM brake pad in hand and it matched an EX pad exactly.

What's up with that?

 

welcome to the forum. When Honda made the civic, the DX, LX, EX all have the same frame except the engine on the ex, so most of the parts are the same.

 

That doesn't explain why when I tried to buy pads for an LX, they were too big. I had to buy pads for an EX though my car is an LX.

 

different trims different weights obviously the four door weighs more then a coupe the dx has less options then the ex a automatic weighs more then a standard so you can see the need for different brakes. my guess is you either ordered the wrong part or they screwed up your order.

 

You've made the point even more interesting. My '97 coupe EX manual transmission used the exact same size pads as my '11 sedan LX automatic. I'm quite sure the '11 weighs a bit more than the '97 yet uses the same smaller pads.

I actually went in to a store to purchase the pads. The second time with OEM Honda brake pad in hand and it is for an EX.

 

Back in 2012, Honda introduced a second version of front pad for the LX and DX trim levels, which they touted as "longer lasting, but marginally noisier." At this point though, they're all interchangeable, with the exception of the SI models, which take a TOTALLY different pad. EX, LX , and DX models across the board all thake the same OE part number, both sedans and coupes. If you got the wrong pads, you probably got SI pads by accident.