RPS13

Nissan 180SX

SR20DET, 2.0 turbo, rear-wheel drive

A pop-up-light hatchback that shared its running gear with the S13 Silvia and outlived it. Because Nissan revised the car without changing the chassis code, paperwork on a 180SX is looser than on almost any other JDM model.

The whole run is now past 25 years, which makes this one of the few models where eligibility is never the question and condition always is.

01What to read first on a RPS13 sheet

Sileighty conversions

A 180SX with an S13 Silvia front end is either a factory Sileighty or somebody's conversion. The chassis number on the sheet is how you tell, and the difference is real money.

Rust at the hatch and the arches

Water gets into the tailgate and the rear arches on these. An S mark at the back of the diagram deserves photographs.

Pop-up headlight mechanisms

Rarely on the sheet, always worth asking. Parts exist but the repair is fiddly and the shops that will do it are few.

Every mark named above is defined in the codes library, with what it costs to put right at US rates.

02Also worth reading

Night Line

Be told when a RPS13 matters

We write when the RPS13 clears another month of the 25-year rule, when the yen moves more than 3% your way, and once when the free Decode opens. Nothing else.

One address, no list swapping, and you can reply to any of our email to be removed.