Auto body repair & detailing: Front Bumper and Left Fender, paint booths, straight shooter

Question
Hi, I own Silver 2001 Jetta.
I recently got into very minor accident at the company parking lot. We decided to go 50/50 since it was both of our faults. The left fender is dented pretty bad (but paint wasn't damaged). But my front bumper, the left side of the front bumper is pretty badly scratched. Thankfully, the shape is not damaged at all. I went to this shop that I got referred from my friend. He says he will repaint half of the front bumper and fix the fender and repaint it. I asked him if it was normal for you to repaint the whole bumper but he said, its better to keep the original paint job as much as possible since he can't possibly paint it as thin as the factory job. And due to the nature of that, the repaint bumper will be scratched or damaged easier than the factory job. He says that why hes painting the half of the bumper. He says he would match the colour near perfectly. I just want to find out what he saying is right....
Please help!!

Answer
He's shooting you pretty straight. Most guys charge for the full panel paint on a bumper, then just do a blend out. It's difficult to duplicate the longevety of the factory finish. Others may tell you differently, but aftermarket paint isn't applied like the factory paint jobs. Our paint booths and equipment pale in comparison to the factory's multi million dollar facilities. Most shops are big on promises of paint that's just as good as the factory- it never is, I'm afraid. He should get a good color match by blending the color out. Go with this guy, he's a straight shooter. Bill