I'm thinking I might need to go with the CAN2.0b bus but browsing the PIC spec, geezus there's a lot of registers and stuff. Anybody ever use this module?
I've developed a few products that use this module.
There are a lot of registers due to the filters and buffers available. The cool thing about the CAN bus is the hardware level data validation and re-transmitting on error.
I recommend Microchip's (no I don't work for Microchip) Eval board MCP2510 CAN Developer's Kit. You can download manuals from their website for free to see if it suits you.
One thing to note about CAN. There are a few "Higher Layer Protocols" for CAN based on what your intended application is.