"providing they weren't near or over MAUW, in which case they were evil."
The thing is that a PA38 will be at or over MTOW, unless you fly alone, or perhaps with a size-8 girlfriend
I don't think the PA38 trim can be fixed; it's a very poor design. A decent pitch trim is really really essential otherwise your workload goes through the roof. Am old heap of a C152 was a revelation when I changed over to it.