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My $.02 worth:
Being a technical kinda guy (aerospace engineer, test & development), my BS detector has a low threshold. I am always bordering on being embarrassed as a person in a technical position (e.g., an alignment tech) gives me a true diagnosis but with a *completely* out-of-synch reason.
So here's your alignment guy telling you your struts are worn. True? Probably. Responsible for the type of wear you describe? Unlikely. Impossible to align with worn struts? MAYBE. What a lot of gearheads don't know is that toe-in usually changes with suspension travel. At full extension, toe is typically neutral to *slightly* toe-out. At full compression, toe is typically at max toe-in. Thus if you have a gas-charged strut (which actually adds to the spring rate of the coil spring) which is at end-of-life with no more gas pressure, then assuming the car had been aligned with the strut at like-new gas pressure there would be more toe-in with the strut 'deflated'. Bear in mind, however, that the difference in toe is probably around 1/16th of an inch. So there's a chance your alignment guy is correct, but I doubt he has a clue as to why. In all likelihood, you CAN have an alignment done successfully with dead or marginal struts. However, the caster and camber will be changed when the struts get replaced, so IF you need new struts, defer the alignment until they are replaced.
Completely flaccid stuts may result in "cupping" type wear on your front tires.
Improper toe-in can cause wandering, but so can a number of other things - like worn front and rear suspension bushings, including those on the Panhard rod. If the trailing arm bushings are toast, the ride height will be messed up, and that will also affect toe. The easiest to check and set straight is the toe in, and it's also probably the cheapest. Find another shop, get the toe set to spec, and see if it makes a difference. THEN set about replacing all the other stuff.
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