thank you all very very much for giving me so much feedback, gives me something to think about and also raises a few more questions
Some of you mentioned winters and others mentioned "Illinois". I live in the neighboring suburbs of Chicago. Is winter a real issue in this car? I have a couple friends that own it and drive through winters, but the last couple winters have been fairly mild here, and quite frankly my friends are nuts. lol
--I am more concerned about safety then I am rust/salt etc. its a car and I fully intend to drive the hell out of it year round, as long as it won't kill me.
Some mentioned the packages. I was actually leaning towards touring first, and then sports package, likely staying away from Nismo. Main reason for this is based on the forum and formal reviews, it seems this car can get loud (sports/nismo being the loudest). Honestly it won't bother me either way, I used to drive a riced out civic so noise isn't an issue, but still something to consider since I have no plans to race this car anyway. Might as well go for a bit more comfort (that's my logic anyway). Of course if I can find a car with both packages, that'll be ideal!
Mod bug. Yea I probably will get hit with this at some point but its not something I want to think about right now. Kinda going the "out of sight out of mind" route on this! Not easy to figure out a budget if I start dreaming of customization. haha