I wonder if the low volume nature of the S and X also had something to do with it. Top-tier suppliers may not have wanted to supply a low volume number of components. I also wonder what a top-tier vs a worst of the bottom-tier actually means. I doubt the parts quality or design is any worse. Nothing about my X screams "bottom tier". I wonder if just has to do with their ability to meet production demands/cost?
To those of us who came from more mature brands, practically everything except the innovative parts of my (since sold) Model S screamed cheap as hell, with a herculean effort to ignore that during the design and building of the car from Tesla. As a many decade old man who was born to old parents and them to old parents who themselves were born around the same time as Ford started making cars meaning many of them used horses for transportation, I am used to a long view on tools and the quality of materials and products; there is
definitely such a thing as a variation in the quality of materials; that's not just some made up old wive's tale. Some materials and designs work better than others. That's just a fact. And, when excellent engineering is done, sometimes the better ones cost less, but often, they cost more. While my more "mature" branded car had many cheap plastic pieces that fell apart easily, that company had managed to make the overall fundamental quality of the main structure of the car and mechanics reliable, and the interior feel and reliability quite a bit less cheap than Tesla's despite the mature brand's frugality. The only thing Tesla had complete control over was the structural quality, which they obviously did quite well; the rest had compromises. Elon's statement neatly and strongly addresses my concern that the Model S and X feel very cheap and crappy inside; that's because they are, to a great extent, something that Hanz had to work around and overcome, and to which they did quite a good job, considering all of that.
What this also means is that after Model 3, Model Y, Tesla Semi, Tesla PowerWall ramp up, Tesla PowerPack ramp up, Solar Roof, and AutoPilot ramp up, as well as a bunch of SpaceX stuff (Falcon Heavy, Mars, etc.), OpenAI, Boring, and HyperLoop, Tesla can start the redesign of Model S and X to include far superior materials. I won't be surprised if their redesign teams are confused and clogged with an abundance of riches when compared to the old designs, but that lineup can use that.
It is quite possible that your Model X has superior materials to the Model S, and that because of that, you notice less cheapness than I did. That also fits the above neat explanation by Elon (since it shows reducing ambivalence and increasing competitive forces from Tesla's suppliers through time).
