Denver’s super-low gas prices prompt Thanksgiving auto trips

Henry Lopez visited three automotive service shops Tuesday before he finally found one that could accommodate his vehicle for an oil change and overall winterization check.

Considering the projected increase in the number of holiday travelers, it’s a wonder Lopez found an open service bay at all.

“It’s like everyone was out today getting their cars done,” said Lopez, who thought he’d spend his lunch hour getting his car serviced for a Thanksgiving Day trip to Pueblo.

It turned out he needed much longer as thousands of metro-area drivers flocked to area service stations to prepare for holiday road trips.

“I guess I’ll be working late,” said Lopez, 34, as he waited for his vehicle at a Jiffy Lube in south Denver.

More than 42 million Americans are expected to hit the road for Thanksgiving — an 11.4 percent increase from 2009 and the first uptick in holiday travelers since the recession began. It’s the largest number of travelers since 2005 when nearly 59 million Americans ventured out for turkey day, according to AAA.

Most of the holiday traveling will be done by car, AAA estimates, with as many as 93 percent of all trips.

“We’re really seeing an increase in car travel this year,” said AAA Colorado spokeswoman Wave Dreher.

Gassing up for local drivers won’t be as expensive as in other places. Colorado is enjoying low gasoline prices — about 17 cents per gallon less than the national average for a gallon of unleaded regular, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The lowest average state price on Tuesday was in Missouri, where unleaded regular was at $2.65 per gallon. California averaged highest among the 48 contiguous states at $3.17 per gallon.

Colorado is averaging $2.70 per gallon, but Denver is one of the lowest cities in the country with unleaded regular at $2.64 a gallon.

“We’ve been very stable since Labor Day,” Dreher said. “Though the indication is it’s going up nationally, it’s just not what we’re seeing in Colorado.”

The reason, industry experts say, is the state’s distribution channel is largely from northern states and Canada, while other states rely on coastal suppliers or southern pipelines.

A good bit of the difference, too, comes from lower demand for fuel, says the Colorado Wyoming Petroleum Marketers,or CWPM, an industry trade group.

“It’s a national trend, and we’re just cheaper because of a lack of storage capacity (in Colorado),” said Mark Larson, executive director of CWPM. “When demand is down by as much as it is, and there’s a glut of product, there’s no place for it to go since storage is limited. Prices, naturally, come down.”

The lower demand is tagged to a resurgence in consumer pressure for vehicles with better gas mileage, in part fueled by a slowing economy.

“People have changed their behavior since 2008 with a demand for higher MPG (miles-per-gallon) averages,” Larson said. “Coupled with the lower demand for fuel, the suggestion is this will draw out for even longer.”

That’s good news. The downside, though, is many local travelers waited until the last minute to prep their vehicles for the cold weather, in part because temperatures have remained unseasonably high.

“It’s human nature to put things off until you need to, especially during the holidays,” Dreher said.

Nationally, auto service stations are seeing a surge in eleventh-hour customers, according to the Automotive Service Association, a trade group. So much so that some businesses typically closed on the day after Thanksgiving are staying open.

“We’ve got a ton of people,” said Tony Dionese, manager of a Firestone Complete Auto Care Store in Centennial. “Typically, we see a surge right before Thanksgiving and Christmas, but all my appointments have been booked as soon as I walk in the door, most just for winterizing.”

David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com