Condensed Consolidating Guarantor and Non-Guarantor Financial Information Statement of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Oct. 31, 2009
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operations	$ 880	$ 1,107	$ 1,238
Cash flow from investment activities
Net change in restricted cash and cash equivalents	(147)	515	71
Net sales (purchases) of marketable securities	(132)	(586)	2
Capital expenditures	(500)	(279)	(197)
Other investing activities	(44)	(84)	(88)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(823)	(434)	(212)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings (repayments) of debt	38	(1,278)	(690)
Other financing activities	(138)	(22)	(74)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(100)	(1,300)	(764)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(3)	0	9
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents during the period	(46)	(627)	271
Increase in cash and cash equivalents upon consolidation of BDP and BDT	0	0	80
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year	585	1,212	861
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year	539	585	1,212
NIC [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operations	(44)	(174)	165
Cash flow from investment activities
Net change in restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0	(19)
Net sales (purchases) of marketable securities	(55)	(374)	1
Capital expenditures	0	0	0
Other investing activities	0	(20)	0
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(55)	(394)	(18)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings (repayments) of debt	91	(20)	166
Other financing activities	(5)	35	(53)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	86	15	113
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents during the period	(13)	(553)	260
Increase in cash and cash equivalents upon consolidation of BDP and BDT			0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year	239	792	532
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year	226	239	792
Navistar, Inc. [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operations	(66)	(421)	(55)
Cash flow from investment activities
Net change in restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0	(4)
Net sales (purchases) of marketable securities	0	0	0
Capital expenditures	(264)	(107)	(46)
Other investing activities	(12)	(84)	(71)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(276)	(191)	(121)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings (repayments) of debt	333	598	185
Other financing activities	0	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	333	598	185
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents during the period	(9)	(14)	9
Increase in cash and cash equivalents upon consolidation of BDP and BDT			0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year	22	36	27
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year	13	22	36
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operations	556	1,041	894
Cash flow from investment activities
Net change in restricted cash and cash equivalents	(147)	515	94
Net sales (purchases) of marketable securities	(77)	(212)	1
Capital expenditures	(236)	(172)	(151)
Other investing activities	(32)	(13)	(78)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(492)	118	(134)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings (repayments) of debt	48	(1,195)	(807)
Other financing activities	(133)	(24)	40
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(85)	(1,219)	(767)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	(3)	0	9
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents during the period	(24)	(60)	2
Increase in cash and cash equivalents upon consolidation of BDP and BDT			80
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year	324	384	302
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year	300	324	384
Eliminations and Other [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by (used in) operations	434	661	234
Cash flow from investment activities
Net change in restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Net sales (purchases) of marketable securities	0	0	0
Capital expenditures	0	0	0
Other investing activities	0	33	61
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	0	33	61
Cash flows from financing activities
Net borrowings (repayments) of debt	(434)	(661)	(234)
Other financing activities	0	(33)	(61)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(434)	(694)	(295)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents during the period	0	0	0
Increase in cash and cash equivalents upon consolidation of BDP and BDT			0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0