Some advice from a recent acquirer of drivers license
1. Make sure you can afford to fuel it. MPG matters, a lot, Diesel is almost always better in this aspect.
2. Size also matters. Small, low power cars are generally cheaper to insure. Fiestas, Corsas and such are the go to for this reason
3. Service History, check it.
4. If you can, get a local mechanic you trust to look the car over quickly as soon as you buy it.
5. Go oldish but not ancient. My current car is a little over a decade old and going strong, costs less to buy, little to insure and is in pretty good condition
6. Consider black box insurance rationally. I hated the thought until I got mine, now I get money back every week (cheapest insurance policy I could have possibly got to boot) (carrotinsurance black box policy BTW (NOT the phone policy))