Anyone care to suggest a car for me?

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We don't get those model names here, but they may be the same vans. We get the Toyota Sienna. Before that was the Previa. Some people have imported old Highace's.

The Sienna mini-vans tend to hold their value quite well, so they're a little pricey for high mileage examples.. and they're not exactly great on gas - but no worse than most small SUV's I suppose. Just not sure if I want to go to something around ~20mpg when I make a switch, or if I'll aim for much higher fuel efficiency. Time will tell I guess.

AllTrac Previas can be had with 5 speed manuals...

A 2004 Subaru Legacy? Ok it isn't a head turner, but from a practical perspective you definitely wouldn't have to curl up to sleep in it, and it would fit all your outdoor hobby equipment too.
[http://wwwa.autotrader.ca/a/Subaru/Legacy/Calgary/Alberta/5_20742346_20140617144110360/?showcpo=ShowCPO&orup=1_15_4 ]
Fuel consumption http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/19661.shtml

Down here, the cheapest option for that motor is the Forester X...

I had a 2000 legacy outback limited.. it was nice w/ heated leather seats and dual power moon roofs, but SO many things went wrong with it over the course of 13 months I owned it that between depreciation and repairs it cost me over $10,000 in just over a year. I don't think I'd ever buy another Subaru after that experience. Also, my neighbour had an older one… head gasket issues. They're pretty nice cars, but reliability isn't so good in my experience.

Fair enough, I wouldn't want one again if I had that experience, a frugal relative of mine had a legacy for years and it never gave him any hassle.

in my experience the most consistently reliable used vehicles were Toyotas and Hondas. the most consistently UNreliable vehicles were anything German or English or Italian.

The toughest car in history however was a Mercedes Benz 240d; a Greek taxi. 2.87 million miles on one engine. I think a 300TD would be a great wagon for your purposes as well.

a mechanic told me that german cars were generally expensive and built to stay that way.

Owned a few German cars... they can become money pits after 7 years old, cant use regular parts & need 'special everything' to be fixed.

Too
Often
Yankees
Overprice
This
Auto
Seriously

Happy
Owners
Never
Drive
Another
SUV

The only Euro I'd ever dream of buying is an A45 AMG.

I had 2 NG body Saab turbos. Utterly bombproof, my 9-3 survived almost 3 feet of floodwater and remained just as fast. 30mpg, ~200hp and cheaper than most civics! Incredibly comfy & safe too.

Not sure if you got these across the pond but Citroen Berlingo would be my 2 cents.

Had one that did 250.000 miles before something crucial went that cost too much to replace.
Good on fuel, the diesel version anyway, but hopeless for acceleration and not a car for someone that likes speed but mine was the older version (late 1990's) and the newer versions have improved but are dearer.
Here in Europe they keep their value reasonably well and you see loads of them in Belgium and NL.
With the back seats down it would carry most furniture and most parts were interchangeable with the Peugot Partner.

Here's a wiki link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3% ... production

We don't get Citroens or Peugots.

The Berlingo is available in Mexico.