Road trip cross Canada?

Help me choose a van for a cross-canada trip!

• My girlfriend and I are taking a (return) cross-Canada road trip in April, and I'm getting pretty excited about it. We want to keep overall costs as low as possible, and I think purchasing a cheap Van is probably going to fit the bill. Any suggestions on makes/models? - I intend to sleep in the vehicle most of the time. The Prairies in April probably won't be too pleasant in a tent, and hotels are just too pricey. - Buying anything newer than 95 probably won't happen for budget reasons (around $3,000 limit on initial purchase) - I've heard MiniVans have hard-to-access engines and often have transmission problems - If the thing does end up breaking down, it needs to be fixable! (part availability bonus) - I might hold onto the vehicle after the trip, might sell it; no solid plans, but resale/re-purposing holds no value to me in this decision. - I have no current vehicle. I'm willing to put some work into the vehicle before the road trip starts, like insulation or building a bed/tearing out seats. What's the hive mind think?

• Answer:

  My SO's family has a 1992(-ish) Toyota Previa with more than 300,000 km on it. Their mechanic says he's never seen such a reliable engine/transmission, and that it should be good for 400,000 km. It's needed work, obviously, on hoses and such and the body is not in great shape; the point is that Toyota builds the guts of these things to last. With all that in mind, my advice is to buy something like http://autotrader.ca/used_cars_Vans+&+Cargo+Vans_details/BRAMPTON_Ontario_1997_TOYOTA_PREVIA+_3538356.html?srcid=1735238&source=24&pgno=1&srt=70&CompanyID=&r=ontario&ad-attributes=photos,,. Take the back seats out, put down a mattress, and you might just have an uncle named Bob.