The Audi A4 is pricey but worth it, the reviewer says. (Audi)

It is a beautiful automobile, arguably worth the price.

Arguably?

Yes. In the mind of almost every consumer is a nagging voice saying that what was bought could have been gotten for less. The volume of the nagging increases with each discovered defect or perceived lack of quality, or discernible inferiority in the thing purchased.

That is the beauty of the 2017 Audi A4 2.0T Premium Plus sedan. That nagging voice is silent. In its place is a certain satisfaction that you’ve spent money well, a total of $48,725 in this case.

What did you get?

Consider an expertly crafted, compact, luxury all-wheel-drive sedan. The interior is of well-stitched, supple nougat brown leather. It is wonderfully inviting. This is a completely renovated A4, larger and more comfortable on long drives than its predecessor, yet still tight and snug, an absolute driving pleasure.

The exterior is attractive, more linear than its predecessor, and is done (in the one used for this column) in an optional Florett Silver paint ($575). The LED headlamps enhance driver vision and vehicular beauty and are matched in appeal and effectiveness by bright red LED rear stop lights that mean “Stop!”

A long drive in this one on a high-speed highway reveals its core appeal. It feels safe, as if you and yours are protected from the world’s surrounding madness. Credit here goes to the optional Premium Plus package ($3,800) and Technology Package ($3,250), which include suites of advanced electronic safety systems that greatly reduce the chore and hazards of driving.

I know. If I were as good a driver as I am supposed to be, I wouldn’t need all those things. Fact check: I need them. The older I get, the more I know how much I need them. Examples abound: a loud dinging bell reminding me to buckle my seat belt; a blindside warning system alerting me to rapidly following traffic in opposing lanes; a rear cross-traffic alert system; knee and thorax air bags; rearview camera.

They’ve saved me from accidents I otherwise would have had. That’s the skinny of it. I value them as much, if not more, than I do things such as horsepower.

And there is more than adequate horsepower and torque here — 252 horsepower, 273 pound-feet of torque smoothly emanating from a 2.0-liter turbocharged gasoline four-cylinder engine. It consumes premium fuel but not terribly much of it — 24 miles per gallon in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.

This one comes with Audi’s Sport Package ($750) — front seats with power lumbar support, which feel good, very good, almost medicinal, especially for a back wracked by sciatica; and a sport suspension that gives precision to the term “handling.”

I love this one, simply love it.