Looking for some advice please!

[Kell_ee001]

Stay with me here because I know nothing about cars at all! But! I both want and need a new (well, new to me) car in the next couple of months which is where I'd like some advice.

Ok, this much I know... I'm looking for a little car similar to my Corsa (so something along the lines of a Fiat Punto or Renault Clio?) but not another Corsa, a Ka or a Smart Car. I'm after used (obviously) and under £2K, but the further under that the better to be honest

Where you guys come in... what should I look for? Other than the colour (showing my n00bness there!) I have no idea what's important! How do I know it's a good price? Are there particular things I should be looking out for? Are there makes / models I should avoid and are there any that will skyrocket my insurance? And on a related topic, how do I get rid of my current beat-up mess of a car?!

Give me real basic, don't worry about offending me because I'd rather you think you're pointing out something obvious than me not think of it if you didn't! I'm very nervous about all this because there isn't really anyone who can come look at cars with me that know what they're doing and this is a lot of money for me to spend - but it needs doing now!

Thank you in advance!