Need Guidance on tuner upgrade choices...

Neewbie to the tuner world. Wondering if I can get some suggestions on my specific situation.

First off, I have a 2015 Passatt TDI which I bought pre-owned. Prior owner had only the Part 1 emissions fix done (software only I believe). The second part which I believe is a hardware fix only is still a pending recall on my car but have been hesitant doing it for fear of even worse mpg.

Questions:
1. Do I need to get the second emissions recall fix done to consider a tuner upgrade?
2. Any pros/cons to not doing the emissions fix?
3. I'm not looking to spend a fortune and only really looking for some better performance & maybe mpg. Not interested in doing performance related hardware upgrades...just plug n play type stuff.

I did call Kerma TDI today and spoke to a tech guy. He said I should get the 2nd emissions fix, then consider their Q-pro tuner AND DSG flash tuner. Not sure spending close to $1000 is an option for me though.

Pardon my ignorance on all this...just too busy with work to do a deep dive on all this. Just looking for "second opinions".

if you cant afford a few grand, dont mod. or do so in an older car where its cheap.

First off, why'd you buy the TDI in the first place?

Do you pound down 100's of highway miles a trip? If so a tune won't get you any better MPG. Or do you just put on 5-8K miles a year and plan to hold onto the car for 10-15 years? Do you value the emissions extended warranty of the 2015?

Of course Charlie would want you to buy a tune and DSG software, that's how he makes money.

As far a tunes vs phase fixes, the tune is independent of the emissions phases, they'll over write any file, but with that being said if you get a tune at phase 1 and then get phase 2 later on, you'll then have to exchange files again to incorporate the phase 2 changes.

As Mongler stated, if you can't pay to play (or at least be willing to suck up a repair out of warranty) it'd be best to stay away from a tune.

The idea of the phases and why VW did them is to get the car to the end of the serviceable lifespan of around 150K without extra cost by the consumer (see extended warranty booklet) If you tune it after phase 2 and then have an issue with anything that could be covered under the warranty VWoA could/should deny the warranty payment and force you to pay for the costs.

You will never get the money back from the fuel savings. A tune or tunes will never pay for themselves so just forget that part. You will get some better performance but after a year or so you won't even remember what it was like before and it will just be normal again to you. It is a big old family car anyway not a sports car.

If you value the warranty get the fixes done and forget the tunes. Not badmouthing the tunes as they are good but there are some disadvantages such as cost and possible warranty denial issues you may have to deal with. Good tunes cost money.

If I were you I would just leave it alone as is and enjoy it. After warranty and you have read and know more then maybe get something done.