If the top of the tire is farther outboard than the patch touching pavement, that is positive camber, and it is generally undesireable, as it can pre-dispose the car to the kind of sudden camber jacking attitude change that brought Ralph Nader to national attention with his book Unsafe At Any Speed, detailing design flaws with the rear suspension of the Corvair. Your rear suspension isn't anything like the Corvair, when it's all there and working properly, but whether the top of the wheel is out more than the bottom, or the bottom is out more than the top, you've got some badly bent or broken bits back there, beyond merely worn struts, and what's left is doing much more than it was intended to do, and won't do it long, if you hit some major pothole or object. I could offer a more rigorous diagnosis, if you clarified the direction of the visible camber, but regardless of what is wrong, you'd still have to have it fixed, or park the thing, in favor of a another mount.

So, yeah, get it into a suspension shop ASAP. But be aware that repairs, at this stage, may cost nearly as much as the vehicle is worth, and will be sunk cost the minute you drive away thereafter.

Ugh. The top of the tire leans toward the car, like this: \ (but not as extreme of a tilt as the slash). Thanks though paulsc; sounds like bad news, either way . . . luckily I only drive it to work and back, and I've been very cautious about potholes and the like. Oy vey . . .

So, I guess it's negative camber. Wow, the things you learn from MetaChat.

Generally, it's better that you have visible negative camber than positive camber, but neither is good. Your car is late model enough that it doesn't have the fiberglas monospring of early W body models. With negative camber, it could be as simple as your strut has been so bad, so long, that the coil spring has given up, and your car has dropped down on that side significantly. But if that were it, you'd see that corner as being 2 or 3 inches lower to the ground than the other, when the car was parked on level ground. More likely, a trailing link is bent, or a link arm is broken. Drive it any distance in that condition and you'll damage the tire to the point it won't balance or run true, and maybe you'll bork some other parts, too.

Ok, a glimmer of hope, at least in terms of repair costs. Thanks much sir, at least now I know.