I remember seeing The Fast and the Furious in theaters on its opening day in 2001. Hell, I still have the movie ticket in my possession. To say that it was my favorite movie of the year is a drastic overstatement. Hell, I’m not sure I even liked it the first time. The story was predictable, the acting was wooden and the racing was bland. The only reason I wanted to see it was because I had become a huge Vin Diesel fan somewhere between Saving Private Ryan and Pitch Black. By the latter, I knew this guy was the real deal, a new generation of movie tough guy to replace the old fogeys Stallone and Schwarzenegger. And even in this turkey, Diesel showed to have charisma and certain charm.

Since then, I have caught every Fast/Furious film in theaters and oddly enough, I enjoyed every one of them a LOT more than that first one. I laughed at and laughed with each additional member of the franchise, astonished just how much fun I had in each movie, looking forward to the next like some crazed fanboy. When Diesel came back, it felt whole again. When they put together the all-stars in Fast Five, it finally found its sweet spot.

But now the seventh film has come out and it is possibly the funniest of the lot. And after the screen faded to black, my need for the franchise has been satisfied. While the runaway success of this film will guarantee there will be an eighth installment, I think I will sit them out from here. If you are asking why am I doing so if I am still having fun with this series, there are four reasons:

• While Paul Walker wasn’t my favorite actor in the series, he does play a part in my decision. On a story level, the films were mostly about the relationship between Brian and Dom. Brian’s infiltration into Dom’s family was the reason for the series to begin with. Now with Walker’s death (more on that in just a moment), Brian’s story has come to an end, and in a way, so is Dom’s. If Dom intentionally goes looking for trouble, knowing that his family is starting to settle down, he stops becoming the paternal figure that his character relishes. Not only that, but he puts that family at risk with those he goes up against. That’s not even bringing up that there will need to be a Number 2 replacement and none of the remaining cast has the blandness to play that part, meaning we’ll need to recruit one, which will be compared to with Walker.
• Yes, Walker’s death has a part to play in this decision. I understand that this series is all about impossible car stunts and reckless driving, but Walker dying because of said reckless driving and not being made clear with a post-film sting or something recognizing that the themes of the film were in fact related to his death seems a little callous. This needed to be a reminder to very real teenage street racing audience that goes to these movies before hitting a local quarter mile. But not this time.
• They’ve done pretty much everything that you could possibly do with an automobile. While I’m sure there could be some dregs at the bottom of the can, I don’t see there being enough to fill one more movie, much less two or three as the filmmakers want. As any fan of TV’s 24 could tell you, season five was the peak, why not go out on a high note?
• There is only so much more I can take of Tyrese and Ludacris before they drive me crazy. If Dwayne Johnson takes up more screen time with Diesel, they will spend those extra minutes in the proverbial pissing match. This cast is going to get really old really quick from this point forward. I would prefer to leave before they get annoying.

Am I saying that others should leave the franchise at this point? Absolutely not. There may be some good things coming down the pipeline that you might not want to miss. That said, I hope the filmmakers and the studio realize that from this point forward, they are on borrowed time and that they might want to think about finding a graceful exit before being left in the dust by audiences that have found a better ride. Even a great car can fall apart if you put too many miles on it.