painting question

I'm having my front bumper repainted because, as you can see, the clearcoat is really peeling. I went to 2 places for estimates. 1 is an auto repair/painting business and the other is an individual. I've seen the individual's work and it is quite good. My only concern has to do with the molding seen at the bottom of the picture. The repair shop says that the bumper must be removed and the molding replaced. The individual plans on painting the bumper while it's still attaced to the body. He said that the molding doesn't necessarily need to be replaced. Does anyone with any painting experience have any suggestions?
http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p278/georgew84/100_3568.jpg

The old paint should be stripped off this bumper or it will peel again, properly prepped the mlding is not an issue, except when it is cleared it may leave a line.

i was told that the bumper will be sanded down to the primer, then something will be added to the paint to keep it from becoming problematic again..I guess something has to be added becuase of the material the bumper is made out of....I'm not sure. Are you saying that there may be a "seam" or line in the crevace?

It is flex additive that is added to the base color, this bumper was probably done before and not prepped properly. The seam will not be an issue but doing this on the car is harder.

Flex additive! that's it! Are you suggesting that it would be easier to do the job with the bumper off? If so, will that molding have to be replaced? I wasn't sure if there was any mounting hardware underneath it.

The bumper mlding has nothing to do with taking the cover on and off.

great. that's what I needed to know! It's going to run me almost $300 parts/labor, but I don't care, I want it fixed!

do ineed to wet sand or scuff primersealer before base coat. what is the best prep before basecoat