It really is a crap shoot. Going authentic JDM could be a paperwork, time and money nightmare. But the cars are selling for well under $10k for those year models and usually have very little mileage due to stiff Japanese tax penalties.

On the other hand, you generally pay about $16k-$18k for a USDM Type R and at times can be more difficult to locate a good one than the JDM O_o

Look into it thoroughly and then decide.