Knowing that you are from Great Britain (I think), your needs and accessibility to information are going to be different than what I am familiar with. But the basics are never changing. For starters; -How much can you spend? -How much can you afford? (These are the long term costs of ownership. Insurance, license, standard maintenance) -What type of vehicle do you want/need? Do you have any places to check on vehicle reliability? We have Kelly Blue Book, which gives you vehicle general reliability histories and costs based on condition. I'm sure you have something similar. But research the vehicle(s) you are interested in for recalls or reliability concerns. Once you start physically looking at cars, there is a list of things to look at and listen for. Once you're there I'd be glad to make a list for you. I don't want to bore you or maybe even scare you with it. But there are a lot of things to check out. If any come up negative on the car you look at, pass and move on to the next candidate.