Every Nissan with Pop-up Headlights Ranked by Performance and Style

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Preserving a 35-year-old Nissan equipped with retractable headlights demands mechanical patience and realistic expectations. The days of scooping up a clean, running 240SX S13 for $2,500 are long gone. Today, unmolested S13 fastbacks frequently surpass $15,000 to $25,000, with pristine 180SX Type X imports reaching beyond $35,000.

S12 200SX and Z31 300ZX models remain accessible alternatives, often trading between $6,000 and $12,000 for clean driver-quality cars. However, replacement parts present unique challenges:

• Factory nylon drive gears inside the headlight motors degrade and shear their teeth after decades of heat cycles. Upgraded brass replacement gears sourced from specialty fabricators resolve the issue permanently.
• Moisture trapped inside the front bumper assembly corrodes the ground connections for the lift motors, causing one headlight to stick down while the other rises.
• Sloppy, bouncing headlight lids at highway speeds indicate worn nylon pivot ball joints. Fresh polyurethane bushings restore factory alignment.
• On S12 and S13 chassis, road water thrown from front tires collects behind the headlight motor brackets, creating rust pockets that chew through inner wheel arches.