Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Narrative (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2019 USD ($) employees segments	Jan. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2019 USD ($) employees segments	Apr. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Nov. 01, 2018 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative Effect of New Accounting Principle in Period of Adoption		$ 27
Selling, General and Administrative Expense	$ (373)		$ (200)	$ (559)	$ (391)
Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Investing Activities				37	188
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period							$ 1,445	$ 840
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period	1,208		1,192	1,208	1,192
Sales of Manufactured Products	2,948	2,948	2,382	5,334	4,249
Accounts Receivable, Net, Current	453	453		453		$ 448	456
Property and equipment, net	(1,270)	(1,270)		(1,270)		(1,261)	(1,370)
Liabilities, Current	(3,708)	(3,708)		(3,708)		(3,805)	(3,807)
Long-term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations	(4,588)	(4,588)		(4,588)		(4,463)	(4,521)
Other Liabilities, Noncurrent	672	672		672		709	731
Liabilities	(10,918)	(10,918)		(10,918)		(11,074)	(11,156)
Assets	(7,066)	(7,066)		(7,066)		(7,121)	(7,230)
Debt, Current	769	769		769		931	946
Other Liabilities, Current	1,309	1,309		1,309		1,268	1,255
Cost of Goods and Services Sold	$ 2,493	2,493	1,987	$ 4,472	3,519
Number Of Segments | segments	4			4
Goodwill	$ 38			$ 38			38
Interest expense	(82)	(82)	(79)	(167)	(158)
Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, before Tax	(44)	(44)	68	(46)	17
Capital expenditures	22		23	66	53
Proceeds from finance lease obligations				9	38
Product Warranty Accrual, Preexisting, Increase (Decrease)				$ 2	0
Document Type				10-Q
Inventory, Gross	216			$ 216			154
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	1	1	(7)	20	(22)
Stockholders' Equity Attributable to Parent	(3,855)	(3,855)		(3,855)		(3,958)	(3,931)
Inventory, Net	1,164	1,164		1,164		1,019	1,110
Other Assets, Current	282	282		282		290	189
Assets, Current	5,101	5,101		5,101		5,138	5,136
Deferred Tax Assets, Net of Valuation Allowance, Noncurrent	(121)			(121)		(122)	(121)
Other Assets, Noncurrent	(102)	(102)		(102)		(110)	(113)
Liabilities and Equity	(7,066)	(7,066)		(7,066)		(7,121)	(7,230)
Other Operating Income (Expense), Net	(18)		(11)	(115)	(91)
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	$ (43)	(43)	61	$ (26)	(5)
Unionized Employees Concentration Risk [Member] | Number Of Employees Hourly Workers [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration Risk Number Of Employees | employees	8,600			8,600
concentration risk number of employees percentage	99.00%			99.00%
Unionized Employees Concentration Risk [Member] | Number of Employees Salaried Workers [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration Risk Number Of Employees | employees	700			700
concentration risk number of employees percentage	13.00%			13.00%
Traton Group [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Less: Intercompany revenues	$ 42		41	$ 71	81
Costs and Expenses, Related Party	5		8	18	19
Accounts Receivable, Related Parties	16			16			10
Accounts Payable, Related Parties	42			42			25
Navistar Defense [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Less: Intercompany revenues	28			34
Accounts Receivable, Related Parties	40			40
North America Truck [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Assets	(2,120)			(2,120)			(2,085)
Interest expense	0		0		0
Capital expenditures	21		30		55
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	0		$ 0	0	$ 0
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Sales of Manufactured Products		29		25
Accounts Receivable, Net, Current		10				8
Property and equipment, net		(173)				(109)
Liabilities, Current		(8)				(2)
Long-term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations		(52)				(58)
Other Liabilities, Noncurrent		(109)				(22)
Liabilities		(153)				(82)
Assets		(177)				(109)
Debt, Current		14				15
Other Liabilities, Current		22				13
Cost of Goods and Services Sold		18		11
Interest expense		(1)		(2)
Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, before Tax		12		16
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)		2		3
Stockholders' Equity Attributable to Parent		(24)				(27)
Inventory, Net		51				91
Other Assets, Current		67				101
Assets, Current		6				2
Deferred Tax Assets, Net of Valuation Allowance, Noncurrent	(2)			(2)		(1)
Other Assets, Noncurrent		(8)				(3)
Liabilities and Equity		(177)				$ (109)
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		10		13
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Sales of Manufactured Products		2,919		5,309
Accounts Receivable, Net, Current		463					456
Property and equipment, net		(1,443)					(1,370)
Liabilities, Current		(3,700)					(3,807)
Long-term Debt and Capital Lease Obligations		(4,640)					(4,521)
Other Liabilities, Noncurrent		781					731
Liabilities		(11,071)					(11,156)
Assets		(7,243)					(7,230)
Debt, Current		783					946
Other Liabilities, Current		1,287					1,255
Cost of Goods and Services Sold		2,475		4,461
Interest expense		(83)		(169)
Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent, before Tax		(56)		(62)
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)		(3)		(23)
Stockholders' Equity Attributable to Parent		(3,831)					(3,931)
Inventory, Net		1,215					1,110
Other Assets, Current		215					189
Assets, Current		5,095					5,136
Deferred Tax Assets, Net of Valuation Allowance, Noncurrent	$ (123)			(123)			(121)
Other Assets, Noncurrent		(110)					(113)
Liabilities and Equity		(7,243)					$ (7,230)
Net Income (Loss), Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest		(53)		$ (39)
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale or Disposed of by Sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member]
Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Extended Product Warranty Accrual		$ 2