Oh I didn't realise you had to finalise a cd to use it in a car stereo. Must be a difference b/w mac & windows softw. Which wouldn't surprise me b/c they do use quite different techniques.

What everybody seems to have missed is burn speed. Some CD players simply do not like CD's that've been burnt at high speeds. That's generally where the problems arise. Not so many years ago both CD's & VCD's had to be burnt at single speed or else they were coasters (well at least they would play on comp but that's all.) ie: don't burn them at 52 speed, burn them at 4 or 8 speed or the lowest you can find. It'll last you so much longer also. Choose reliable cd media also.