I haven't read the whole thread but I really hated the PA38. Ghastly plane, always leaks into the cockpit, always leaks into the fuel tanks when it's raining (not good!), stinks inside like a public telephone box, unstable enough to require constant concentration, crappy pitch trim mechanism that uses a crude spring pushing against the yoke and you have to whack it with a fist every so often to make it settle down, incredibly hot on sunny days (which adds to the odours in the cockpit)... Lethal (for a normal plane) stall behaviour which beats any fairground ride in the value for money.
Instructors love them because they are real planes which sort out the real pilots with hairy chests (sorry gurls but you will never be real pilots because of this shortcoming) from the sheep. Like so much in aviation training.
Waste of time learning in them because, in general, there is little chance of renting one afterwards (I mean, would you want to take a lady up in some heap of s**t like that?) and what is the point in flying for 50-60hrs and then having to do a load more converting to something more usable?