japan

Whats up all,
So here is my situation. I'm am just getting into the whole car modifications scene and I'm by no means an expert but I do know my fair share. Anyways, I'm also in the military and in a few years I am to be restationed to Japan and I am looking to buy a car there, because I know that the states gets the cars that Japan has rejected. I'm looking to spend about ten to fifteen and I need some suggestions about what to buy. I need something not to crazy where I'll need special parts or mechanics, but something that I will be able to mess around with myself and further my knowledge. A good starter car basicly.

Thanks
GBM

Civic Type R or Integra Type R would probably be good cars to work with; and should be in your price range. Integras and Civics are really basic cars, even the base models are too. But the bonus with the Type R's is that they're fairly fast (mid to high 14's in the ¼ mile) stock. The differences between the Civic type r's and their US counterparts is the motors, suspensions, brakes, and looks. Of course the Integra type r is available in the US, and the only difference should be the slightly higher hp engine. So basically if you bring it back to the states and something goes wrong you could still buy parts for it in the US. But you also have to remember if you're planning on keeping the car and bringing it back to the states, it's going to cost you some dough to import it. The way it's been explained to me is that they have to change it over to LHD at the border and then if you want to keep it RHD, you have to change it back over again; and also the shipping fee and taxes of course.
Of course this is only one idea, and there are tons of other cars available; but I think that the Hondas are by far one of the easiest cars to work on and a great car to learn from. Then again you could probably find a nice older Evolution over there in your price range too. I'd recommend checking out some of the Best Motoring videos for some ideas. They're very informative, and if you do decide on one of the Type R's there's a video called Type R Legend that covers all the specs on the cars and how they differ from the lesser models. You can find the videos at Best Buy, FYI, and other stores like that; deffinently worth checking out.