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In most cases tire wear will give you a good indication of alignment issues. Toe can be set with a tape measure by measuring the difference between the same groove on the front and rear of the front tires. It should be close to no difference to slightly less in front versus rear. 0 toe will make your car not quite as stable in tracking, more prone to following grooves in pavement and slightly less directional stability, but it will help mileage some depending on how far off it was before the adjustment.
Another way to check is to wrap a string around all 4 tires and see is there is anything that seems to be off. This will require you to find out what the difference is between front and rear track, the difference between the width of the center of the front and rear tires, which on some cars can be significant.
Bottom line is most alignment issues will show up in tire wear, as additional rolling resistance due to scuffing of the tires will increase wear. Toe in will wear the outside of the front tires, while toe out will wear the inside and cause poor directional stability.
Most of the time front end alignments last a long time if they were correct in the first place. Most tires hold balance well after the first re balance at about 7k miles, in spite of what a dealer may recommend. I generally let Wal Mart rotate and balance my tires. They will re balance at no charge if you have vibration issues later.
regards
Mech
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