Caterpillar VIN Decoder & VIN Check — Models, Recalls, Specs, MPG & Safety
“We Build, We Power, We Move”
Caterpillar Inc. is an American manufacturer of heavy construction equipment, mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, headquartered in Irving, Texas. Founded in 1925 through the merger of the Holt Manufacturing Company (founded 1883 by Benjamin Holt) and the C. L. Best Tractor Co. (founded 1910 by C. L. Best), Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment.
Caterpillar produces the 797F off-highway truck (one of the largest mining trucks in the world, with a 400-tonne payload capacity), the D11 bulldozer, 365C and 6020B excavators, 988M wheel loader, and a comprehensive line of construction, mining and forestry equipment. Caterpillar also manufactures Cat C-series diesel engines used in marine, industrial, oil-and-gas and power-generation applications. The Cat 797F mining truck has been continuously produced since 1998 and remains the largest mining truck in the world by payload.
Caterpillar trades on the New York Stock Exchange under CAT and is a Dow Jones Industrial Average constituent. Recall data for every Caterpillar VIN sold in the US is reported to NHTSA. ForCar.org maintains historical Caterpillar VIN data, primarily for the Cat OEM-supplied highway truck engines and chassis components.
Caterpillar at a glance
- Founded
- 1925 (Holt + Best merger)
- Predecessors
- Holt Manufacturing (1883), C. L. Best Tractor (1910)
- Headquarters
- Irving, Texas, USA
- Stock ticker
- NYSE: CAT (Dow constituent)
- World rank
- #1 construction equipment by revenue
- Largest mining truck
- 797F (400-tonne payload)
- Annual revenue
- $60B+
- Dealer network
- 3,500+ locations globally
- Basic warranty
- 1 year / unlimited hours
- Powertrain warranty
- Component-specific
Decode any Caterpillar VIN
Enter a 17-character VIN below to retrieve the trim, factory options, original window-sticker MSRP and any open NHTSA recall affecting that specific vehicle. ForCar.org pulls the same dataset that Caterpillar dealers use to notify owners of safety recalls.
VIN Decoder
Signature Caterpillar technology
Caterpillar heritage
Benjamin Holt patented the first practical track-laying tractor in 1904 and founded the Holt Manufacturing Company in Stockton, California, in 1883. C. L. Best founded the C. L. Best Tractor Co. in 1910 in San Leandro. The two competing companies merged in 1925 to form Caterpillar Tractor Co., taking the Caterpillar nickname Holt had used since the 1900s. The 1929 stock-market crash and Great Depression nearly bankrupted the new company, but military contracts during WWII and post-war infrastructure construction in the 1950s-1970s established Caterpillar as the global leader in heavy equipment.
Market position
Caterpillar competes in the global construction equipment, mining equipment, agricultural equipment and engine markets against Komatsu (Japan), Liebherr (Germany), Volvo Construction Equipment, John Deere Construction, Hitachi Construction and Kubota. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment by revenue, with annual sales exceeding $60 billion. The brand's positioning emphasizes durability, dealer-network strength (3,500+ dealer locations globally) and integrated technology systems.
New-vehicle warranty
CATERPILLAR VIN Decoder — Free VIN Check Video Guide
Watch our quick CATERPILLAR VIN decoder walkthrough. Learn how to decode any CATERPILLAR VIN number to get full vehicle history, recall alerts, specifications, fuel economy (MPG), safety ratings, and known problems — completely free on ForCar.org.
All Caterpillar models (21)
Frequently asked questions
When was Caterpillar founded and by whom?
Caterpillar was founded in 1925 by Benjamin Holt, C. L. Best and is headquartered in Irving, USA.
Where is the VIN on a Caterpillar vehicle?
The 17-character VIN appears in four standard locations: dashboard at the windshield base (driver side), driver-side door jamb sticker, the engine bay (firewall or engine block stamping), and the vehicle's title, registration and insurance documents.
How many Caterpillar models can ForCar.org decode?
ForCar.org indexes 21 Caterpillar nameplates. Any 17-character Caterpillar VIN is decoded against the NHTSA dataset to return trim, factory options, open recalls and original window-sticker MSRP.
What is the Caterpillar warranty?
Basic: 1 year / unlimited hours. Powertrain: Component-specific (3-7 years).
How to check Caterpillar recalls by VIN?
Enter your VIN in the decoder above. ForCar.org queries NHTSA's open-recall dataset for that specific VIN and returns any safety recalls or Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) that affect your vehicle.
Disambiguation: This page covers Caterpillar Inc. (the construction equipment manufacturer) — not the larval form of butterflies or Caterpillar Diesel (a separate diesel-engine repair specialty).
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