Can't judge your "would-be experience" with that given dealer but I would definitely not want to buy a
new boat from a dealer that I'm not totally confident with. Here both the Jeanneau and Dufour dealers are awesome (and Bavaria's too just for justice's sake...)
A few years of inland cruising (lake Balaton, beautiful place to sail, with serious storms from nothing within 2 minutes...) then the
Med , and maybe a transat when moving back to my beloved VA.
The
cockpit storage on the 382 seems more than adequate for me - don't forget the two large wet lockers underneath the rear cockpit floor, one for
dinghy and another one for the standard life raft box.
I didn't really like the only
interior color available on the Jeanneau, also the woodwork is noticeably nicer on the Dufour. Really disliked the J's stovetop - one can't just cover it and regain the surface since on the Jeanneau it is about an inch above the other
parts of the countertop.
As for negatives with the 382 - I will have to add rub rails later (they are not part of the design) and found tank/battery monitoring system ancient and inadequate. Will modify that with a
DIY add-on (see my separate thread about that...)
Holding tank capacity is only 12 gallons on the 382 - might not be an issue for you. To sum it up, I picked the boat I felt "nicer", still at a bit higher price than any of the competitors.
The best
advice I ever found was "buy the boat that makes your heart sing."