I agree with @Vitalik's answer that the dealer will not likely need to see your car if you do a buyout.
But the particular quote he included from the (very informative) article he linked to, doesn't really apply to your case because you plan to buyout your leased car at the end of the lease.
Car Loan Requirements for Lease Buyout Loans
Buying out a lease can be done to escape fees incurred by going over your yearly mileage allowance, but usually should not be done for this reason as you will likely end up paying more in additional depreciation fees.
This only applies if you do an "early-buyout".
If you do the buyout at lease end, you have already paid for the depreciation of the vehicle. You would only have to pay the "residual value".
You should read the full article, but here is some useful information from it:
- There are two types of lease buyouts: a lease-end buyout in which you purchase your car at the end of the leasing period and an early buyout in which you decide to purchase the car before the leasing period ends. (Early buyouts have additional costs like additional depreciation fees.)
- A smart strategy is to let the lender contact you about a buyout, instead of the other way around. Let a leasing agent become a motivated seller, instead of giving the lender the impression you're a motivated buyer.
- You will be expected to pay the residual value which was (should have been) stated in the original lease agreement.
- You should consider what you would pay for exactly the same vehicle from a used car dealer. If it is significantly different from (less than) the projected residual value of your leased vehicle, the price should be adjusted accordingly.
-You might be able to get a very good deal on a lease-end buyout because the dealer would have to spend a lot of time and money to get the car ready for resale, or else sell it at a wholesale auction. See if you can negotiate the purchase price down because of this. (Don't mention the mileage or the damage to try to get a lower price as it will not work in your favor.)
Their willingness to negotiate strongly depends on the market value of the car at lease-end and how popular that make/model of car is. If they feel they may have to hold on to the car for a while waiting for a buyer, and eventually sell it to a wholesaler, they will be more motivated to negotiate. If the car is very popular, they may not be willing to negotiate at all, but I don't think they can charge you more than residual value amount shown on your lease.
It could also be their policy to never negotiate the residual value.