Hello everyone. I imported a 2007 Honda Fit JDM right hand drive. My out of province inspection is being done in Alberta Canad, at a local Honda dealership. As a part of the safety inspection I was told that the front brake pads need replacing. They are also telling me that the brake pads are different than other 2007 Honda Fit cars in North America. As a result they say it's going to take some time to Source the brake pads. Excuse my ignorance but is this correct are the brake pads in North America for Honda fits 2007, different for Honda Fit JDM right hand drive? I am reaching out to Source the brake pads with a Japanese contact of mine in the meantime. I just want to make sure the information I'm getting from the Honda dealership is correct.... I would think it would be but I'm just surprised the brake pads are different.

 

They might be but better question is if they actually require different pads (physical shape,size) or they just have different stock factory option regarding say chemical composition. You may want to try a local Honda/Import mechanic not associated with dealership as dealership is likely the only place that will try to force you to get insanely hard to find and overpriced pads just because its "what came on the car"
Don't get me wrong some Dealers are good but getting charged 60-80$ for Wipers because the Wipers that the car came in with weren't Honda Factory wipers is something i've only ever experienced at dealerships, yes sadly Honda ones. They are very very anal about everything only ever being factory rather then simply functioning in a safe and or even better then stock way.

If you want to do some of your own research and no one here speaks up to help more specifically then looking into exact part numbers more related to caliper, rotor etc should tell you if NA pads can fit, if its all same numbers as other markets with exception of brake pad itself then definitely, if its not there is still a chance they might but more worth being careful in such case, and even then simply ording parts yourself from JP and taking it to mechanic who will install it may end up being far easier/quicker relative to what dealer may put you through. I would not know but its possible pad itself is just different because of different laws related to say asbestos content or something similar.

 

I am checking with some of my Japanese contacts for the front pads and a few other jdm importers and mechanics in my area to see what I can find.

 

if you know the importers at least some of them should have ideas about mechanics
not trying to trash Honda Dealers, great for many but finding a good guy without needless protocol will probably be game changer for you.
network

 

You're not wrong. The Honda dealership has been pretty good, BUT they don't have a lot of expertise in getting the right part or sourcing a Japanese part. Since I'm good with logistics I did the WHOLE import proces on my own to save money. I have reached out to my direct contact in Japan to get the proper brake pads. I speak and read a decent amount of Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana, so I deal with the dealer direct. It's just time that is the monster in this scenario because no matter what it's going to take time to source the part and in Alberta, they generate the OPIC Certification (Out of province inspection), Dynamically for the user, and it is numbered, and only good for 14 days, so if that 14 days lapses, it's going to cost me another $200 for the OPIC. So I'm working feverishly to try and get the Front Brake pads. Hindsight is 20/20, but now that I know what I might need and what's hard to source, in the future I would get the Japanese Car dealership mechanic to get me a set of front and back brake pads, and get them to put them in the Car before shipping, with any other affordable items, that may be hard to source here. If I was better at some of the mechanic work, I would do the brakes myself ahead of time, but I'm an IT Manager and logistics guy, and doing brakes might be beyond my capability, so best in the future I source all affordable problem parts with the Japanese dealer in the future, and then I have the parts and can get the work done quickly.

 

I ordered the front break pads found them for about 130 CAD at a place called First Gear Project. They came from Japan in about three weeks for my 1.3 litre engine jdm Honda fit. First Gear Project was able to look up the Japanese spec on the car at match the break pads. Win. Car passed inspection, I have it registered, insured and I am driving it now. I bought a license plate adapter kit as well since the license plate bolt holes are in different places (25 Cad). She runs like a dream.

 

was there no usdm x over ?