Also in the “Flash Off” mode it seems my images are over exposed. Has anyone else had this problem? Is the remedy to over ride and reset the exposure to +1.0 or so?
No. You should not have to compensate on a regular basis. However, try a mid-afternoon shot with the sun behind you, shooting down your street. That is a pretty average shot, so it should be close on exposure, perhaps 1/500 at f8 or so at ISO 200. Shoot one on "Auto" and one on "P", they should be essentially the same.