I was in a similar situation before, was looking at private vs importing.
Ended up importing through Iron Chef. Everything was smooth and he is awesome to deal with.
Few little quirks but that was not his fault at all, everything was back on track quickly!
Glad I imported through him, car has been checked out by a local Evo specialist shop and they reckon its one of the better 7's they've seen.
I'm now in love with it
Only thing that turned me off purchasing interstate was that the money needs to be paid up front and its virtually the same as importing besides being a lot quicker.
You also have to budget in stock parts for the car as most are modified in one way or another. Also probably costs more purchasing a car compared to importing.
Importing allowed me to save money while the car was coming over to pay for insurance, rego, stamp duty, insurance etc..
Also person I know bought a 33 GTR interstate, saw it in the flesh. Purchased it, dropped it off at the depot. Picked it up at the Perth Depot. Drove it around for about 30 mins. Gearbox went clunk, opened the gearbox and 3rd gear was smashed. Was fine before it left and had only 2km difference in odometer readings before and after picking it up.