| **Finance Receivables (Details 6) $ in Millions**                                                      | 3 Months Ended | 6 Months Ended |        |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|----------------|--------|
||
| **Financing Receivable, Modifications**                                                                |           |           |   |   |   |
| Remaining commitments                                                                                  | $ 0            |           | $ 0    |   | $ 11 |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 73             | 120            | 103    | 141 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 254          | $ 183          | $ 378  | $ 235 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 247          | $ 169          | $ 360  | $ 209 |   |
| Customer | North America                                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 17             | 2              | 26     | 13 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 8            | $ 6            | $ 9    | $ 16 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 7            | $ 6            | $ 8    | $ 16 |   |
| Customer | Europe                                                                                      |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 0              | 3              | 1      | 3 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 0            | $ 11           | $ 0    | $ 11 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 0            | $ 8            | $ 0    | $ 8 |   |
| Customer | Asia/Pacific                                                                                |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 1              | 0              | 6      | 4 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 0            | $ 0            | $ 39   | $ 3 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 0            | $ 0            | $ 30   | $ 3 |   |
| Customer | Mining                                                                                      |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 0              | 1              | 2      | 1 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 0            | $ 10           | $ 57   | $ 10 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 0            | $ 5            | $ 56   | $ 5 |   |
| Customer | Latin America                                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 7              | 88             | 14     | 90 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 3            | $ 12           | $ 5    | $ 12 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 3            | $ 13           | $ 5    | $ 13 |   |
| **TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date** |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        |           |           | 240    |   |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           |           |           | $ 16   |   |   |
| Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance                                                                   |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 48             | 26             | 54     | 30 |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 243          | $ 144          | $ 268  | $ 183 |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 237          | $ 137          | $ 261  | $ 164 |   |
| Dealer                                                                                                 |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 0              | 0              | 0      | 0 |   |
| Caterpillar Purchased Receivables                                                                      |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 0              | 0              | 0      | 0 |   |
| Amounts related to two customers | Customer | Latin America                                            |           |           |   |   |   |
| **TDRs with a payment default which had been modified within twelve months prior to the default date** |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 240            |           |   |   |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 16           |           |   |   |   |
| Amounts related to three customers | Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance                              |           |           |   |   |   |
| **Finance receivables modified as TDRs**                                                               |           |           |   |   |   |
| Number of Contracts | contracts                                                                        | 42             |           |   |   |   |
| Pre-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                            | $ 175          |           |   |   |   |
| Post-TDR Recorded Investment                                                                           | $ 175          |           |   |   |   |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Loan and finance lease receivables modified as TDRs
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| - Definition
Loans and leases modified as TDRs within previous twelve months that subsequently defaulted
+ References
No definition available.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
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| - Definition
Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.
+ References
No definition available.
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of financing receivables that have been modified by troubled debt restructurings.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 33 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66008989&loc=SL6953676-111524
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Post-modification amount of investment in financing receivables modified by troubled debt restructurings.
+ References
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|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Pre-modification amount of investment in financing receivables modified by troubled debt restructurings.
+ References
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of financing receivables that have been modified by troubled debt restructurings within the previous 12 months and for which there was a payment default.
+ References
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Amount of investment related to financing receivables modified by troubled debt restructurings within the previous 12 months, for which there was a payment default.
+ References
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Reflects the unfunded portion of contractual agreements to lend funds to borrowers for loans whose terms have been modified by troubled debt restructuring.
+ References
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| X                                                                                                                                                         |
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| X                                                                                                                                                                                  |
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