Car Fridges , help with some stupid questions please

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So ....i need a new esky, the one i like is about $300, but now im half thinking i should put that money toward a 12V fridge ?

There is a billion threads on what fridge is best, but there never seems to be actually much of a conclusion, so id thought id ask some specific questions about what ive seen so far.


To give you a idea where im at, so far ive looked at a 40L Engel (the gold version with auto temp and battery cantrol), and also the Waeco 40 - 50 L in the CFX range.









Firstly , the conventional esky im used to, is a 47L capacity, im assuming that i only need a 40L fridge to fit just as much stuff , as i dont need to allow room for the 2 bags of ice ?, i am very limited to vehicle internal luggage space, so a bigger (external size ) fridge is not better for me.




So....

Do you need/use a drain plug in the fridge ?, if you don't have a drain ,and say spill milk inside, can you just tip the fridges upside down and hose them out , or are they like a nornal fridge that need to stay upright ?


How important is a external bag ?


Are they really as good on power consumption as the sales dudes say, e.g. if i have a single car battery, i can run the fridge all night and still start the car in the morning ?


I assume i can pile stuff/camping gear all around the fridge as long as the fan vents are clear, and what sort of clearance or gap do you need to give the fridge fan vents ? , what happens If im off roading and stuff falls and blocks the vents , do they have a thermal cut out, or do i wait for the flames ?


Fridge slides are just a convinience thing so you dont have to reach into the car , or are there other benifits to having a slide system ?


Most people with car fridges seem to drink "cans" of beer, is this because they are more space efficient and are easy to chill, or do bottles tend to rattle/break or chip the inside of the fridge (or am i just reading too much into this)





Thanks in advance