Yep! Our first-ever 3E characters made it all the way through, despite having very suboptimal builds and a weird party makeup-- paladin, sorcerer, and bard. They started out as a trio at level one, and finished in a party of 6 with just enough XP to go epic (if we hadn't been bored with them by that point).
Gilguli the Sorcerer (my PC) started with Point Blank Shot and Combat Casting, neither of which were used anytime past 5th level or so. Ulrich the Paladin had mounted combat feats that got used only twice in his career, because his horse was never around. Fezzig the Bard was a crossbow specialist, with Weapon Focus and (eventually) Rapid Reload.
Somehow these characters muddled through alone for several levels, before some more PCs joined in. I'm sure I could invent characters with less powerful feat choices, but I sure have never seen them happen by accident.