Well, if you want your Beetle to run correctly; regardless, of whether you are going to get a tune or not... YES. I bought a Mityvac Vacuum Pump (MITYVAC - Item #39522); since, the DV was somewhat expensive and there are so many other things on the boost system that can be tested with the tool, I figured it was a good investment. Cars paid for and I'm not going anywhere; so, I am going to have to keep fixing this thing!
If you are getting a tune; that opens up a whole 'nother can of worms; as there are many other options out there (which I discussed in the other thread, there are probably even more on the market a couple of years later). The benefit of many of the other brands of DV's is that generally, they can be taken apart; most are made of metal and you can put different strength springs in them. The different strength springs are used; based upon your boost range and they can be maintained, greased, cleaned etc. There seemed to be quite a few posts about different aftermarket DVs sticking; so, it looks like you have to maintain them. I guess throw away 710Ns when they fail or wear out; buy new ones or take apart, maintain or rebuild the aftermarket units when they have problems.
Maybe others; here who have purchased some, can chime in with their experiences. I'm just regurgitating what I have read online.

At the time of the link; I did allot of research and had a hard time figuring out what was a good solution. There was a whole range of feedback from users; praising some, hating others and many just saying to stick with a 710N, go figure (so much for internet help!). Granted, I am at a stock 180HP/AWP/K03s (11-12 PSI) boost levels; so, I think it is less of a issue then if you are getting into the upper levels of boost, with aftermarket tune upgrades. You might ask the software tuning company (apr, revo, unitronic etc.) what they recommend. Seeing how they sell the tune and are having feedback from their customers; they should have a opinion on what works. Not much of a answer but I hope this helps!
