Cat Financial Financing Activities (Details 2) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Receivables [Abstract]
Period after which Unpaid Installments are Considered as Past Due (in days)	30 days
Period after which collection of future income is considered as not probable (in days)	120 days
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	$ 200	$ 188
61-90 Days Past Due	119	70
91+ Days Past Due	396	418
Total Past Due	715	676
Current	23,430	22,632
Total Finance Receivables	24,145	23,308
91+ Still Accruing	31	28
North America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	8,676	8,030
Europe
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	2,942	2,740
Asia Pacific
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,558	3,789
Mining
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	2,294	1,974
Latin America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,556	3,603
Caterpillar Power Finance
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,119	3,172
Customer
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	20,275	19,424
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	497	513
Customer | North America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	33	35
61-90 Days Past Due	9	8
91+ Days Past Due	29	52
Total Past Due	71	95
Current	6,256	5,872
Total Finance Receivables	6,327	5,967
91+ Still Accruing	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	39	59
Customer | Europe
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	32	23
61-90 Days Past Due	16	9
91+ Days Past Due	36	36
Total Past Due	84	68
Current	2,682	2,487
Total Finance Receivables	2,766	2,555
91+ Still Accruing	8	6
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	41	38
Customer | Asia Pacific
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	65	53
61-90 Days Past Due	42	19
91+ Days Past Due	60	54
Total Past Due	167	126
Current	2,826	2,912
Total Finance Receivables	2,993	3,038
91+ Still Accruing	16	18
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	51	36
Customer | Mining
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	0	0
61-90 Days Past Due	0	1
91+ Days Past Due	12	12
Total Past Due	12	13
Current	2,281	1,960
Total Finance Receivables	2,293	1,973
91+ Still Accruing	0	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	31	12
Customer | Latin America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	63	62
61-90 Days Past Due	34	19
91+ Days Past Due	189	138
Total Past Due	286	219
Current	2,491	2,500
Total Finance Receivables	2,777	2,719
91+ Still Accruing	5	0
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	194	148
Customer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due	7	15
61-90 Days Past Due	18	14
91+ Days Past Due	69	126
Total Past Due	94	155
Current	3,025	3,017
Total Finance Receivables	3,119	3,172
91+ Still Accruing	1	4
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	141	220
Dealer
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	3,870	3,884
Investment in loans and finance leases on non-accrual status	0	0
Dealer | North America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	2,349	2,063
Total Finance Receivables	2,349	2,063
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Europe
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	176	185
Total Finance Receivables	176	185
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Asia Pacific
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	565	751
Total Finance Receivables	565	751
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Mining
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due
Total Past Due	0	0
Current	1	1
Total Finance Receivables	1	1
91+ Still Accruing
Dealer | Latin America
Aging related to loans and finance leases
31-60 Days Past Due
61-90 Days Past Due
91+ Days Past Due	1
Total Past Due	1	0
Current	778	884
Total Finance Receivables	779	884
91+ Still Accruing	1
Dealer | Caterpillar Power Finance
Aging related to loans and finance leases
Total Finance Receivables	$ 0	$ 0