<PAGE>   1

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                 ---------------

                                   FORM 10-K/A

       FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d)
                     OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(MARK ONE)

[ X ]  ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE
       ACT OF 1934

       For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2000

                                       OR

[   ]  TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
       EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

   For the transition period from ____________________ to ____________________

                         Commission File Number: 1-9511

                       THE COAST DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, INC.
             ------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

                Delaware                               94-2490990
         ------------------------                  -------------------
         (State of Incorporation)                   (I.R.S. Employer
                                                   Identification No.)

               350 Woodview Avenue, Morgan Hill, California 95037
               --------------------------------------------------
          (Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
       Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (408) 782-6686

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

                                                    Name of each exchange
           Title of each class                       on which registered
           -------------------                     -----------------------

  Common Stock, par value $.001 per share          American Stock Exchange

Securities to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports
required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such
filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes [ X ] No [ ]

Indicate by a check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405
of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the
best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements
incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this
Form 10-K. [ ]

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the
Registrant, as of April 18, 2001, was approximately $1,972,000 (based upon the
closing price for shares of the Registrant's Common Stock as reported by the
American Stock Exchange for the last trading day prior to that date). Shares of
Common Stock held by each officer, director and holder of 5% or more of the
outstanding Common Stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed
to be affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a
conclusive determination for other purposes.

A total of 4,330,654 shares of the Registrant's Common Stock, par value $.001
per share, were outstanding on April 18, 2001.

                      DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE.

                                      NONE

<PAGE>   2

                                    PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE REGISTRANT

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
         Name                            Age            Position
         ----                            ---            --------
<S>                                      <C>   <C>
Thomas R. McGuire......................   57   Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Sandra A. Knell........................   43   Executive Vice President - Finance, and Chief Financial Officer and
                                               Secretary

David A. Berger........................   47   Executive Vice President -Marine Sales and Marketing

Stephen Bartolotta.....................   39   Executive Vice President - Strategic Planning

Dennis A. Castagnola...................   53   Executive Vice President - Sales

Ben A. Frydman.........................   54   Director

Robert S. Throop.......................   63   Director

John W. Casey..........................   57   Director
</TABLE>

     Thomas R. McGuire is a founder of the Company and has been Chairman of the
Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since its inception. From 1981
until August 1985 he also served as the Company's Chief Financial Officer and
Secretary.

     Sandra A. Knell has been the Company's Executive Vice President - Finance,
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary since August 1985. From 1984 until she
joined the Company, Mrs. Knell was an Audit Manager, and for the prior four
years was a senior and staff accountant, with Grant Thornton LLP (formerly
Alexander Grant & Co.). Mrs. Knell is a Certified Public Accountant.

     David A. Berger served as Executive Vice President -Marketing from May 1988
until September 1993. Due to the growth of the Company's marine products
business, in September 1993 the Company's marketing department was restructured
into two separate departments, one for marine products and the other for R.V.
products, and Mr. Berger was placed in charge of sales and marketing for the
Company's marine products division. From August 1986 to May 1988, Mr. Berger was
Senior Vice President - Purchasing of the Company. For the prior 14 years he
held various management positions with C/P Products Corp., a distributor of
recreation vehicle parts and accessories acquired by the Company in 1985.

     Stephen Bartolotta joined the Company in January 2000 as Executive Vice
President - Strategic Planning. From September 1995 to December 1999, he was a
Senior Manager with the Strategic Services Division of Andersen Consulting in
New York. From February 1993 to September 1995, Mr. Bartolotta was a senior
staff member with Arthur Andersen's business advisory practice. From October
1987 to February 1993, he held various positions with the Company, including
Vice President and General Manager of the Company's Connecticut distribution
center.

     Dennis A. Castagnola was appointed to his current position of Executive
Vice President - Sales in November 2000. From May 1994 through November 2000, he
served as Senior Vice President - Proprietary Products, where he directed the
Company's proprietary products program. For the prior 19 years, he held various
positions with the Company, including Vice President/Division Manager of the
Company's Portland, Oregon Distribution Center. In 1997, Mr. Castagnola was
appointed as President of the Company's new DTS Division which markets and
supplies proprietary products to RV and boating manufactures and to customers in
markets other than the RV and boating After-Market.


                                       2
<PAGE>   3

     Ben A. Frydman has served as a director since 1988. Mr. Frydman is, and for
more than five years has been, engaged in the private practice of law, as a
member and shareholder of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth, a Professional
corporation, which provided legal services to the Company in 2000. Mr. Frydman
is also a director of Collectors Universe, Inc., a public traded company which
is engaged in the business of providing grading and authentication and other
value added services to collectors and dealers of rare coins and currencies,
sportscards, vintage stamps and autographs and selling high end collectibles
through multi-venue auctions and direct sales channels.

     Robert S. Throop has served as a director since 1995. Until his retirement
in late 1996, and for more than the prior five years, Mr. Throop was the
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Anthem Electronics, Inc. ("Anthem"),
which is a national distributor of semiconductor and computer products. Mr.
Throop is also a director of the Manitowoc Company and Azerity, both of which
are privately owned businesses.

     John W. Casey has served as a director since August 1998. From 1980 and
until his retirement in 1994, Mr. Casey was President and Chief Executive
Officer of Shurflo Pump Mfg. Company ("Shurflo"), which was engaged in the
manufacture and sale of pumps used in pumping and circulating water or other
liquids in a variety of products and equipment, including recreational vehicles
and soft drink dispensing machines. Mr. Casey also serves as a director of
Shurflo, a WICOR Company; the Deschutes Basin Land Trust and RV/MHI Foundation,
Inc.


                                       3
<PAGE>   4

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

     The following table sets forth the compensation paid by the Company,
in each of the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2000, to the
Company's Chief Executive Officer, and the other executive officers whose
aggregate cash compensation for services rendered to the Company in all
capacities in 2000 exceeded $100,000 (collectively, the "Named Officers"):


SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                                        LONG-TERM
                                                                   ANNUAL COMPENSATION              COMPENSATION AWARDS
                                                            -----------------------------------    SECURITIES UNDERLYING
              NAME AND PRINCIPAL POSITION                   YEAR        SALARY($)      BONUS(3)         OPTIONS (#)
              ---------------------------                   ----        ---------      --------    ---------------------
<S>                                                        <C>          <C>            <C>         <C>

Thomas R. McGuire,                                          2000        $263,823       $   -0-                 -0-
  Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer         1999         256,499           -0-              20,000
                                                            1998         248,276        20,000                 -0-

Sandra A. Knell                                             2000        $171,162       $   -0-              25,000
  Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President      1999         160,000           -0-              10,000
                                                            1998         143,366        13,500              50,000

Jeffrey R. Wannamaker (1)                                   2000        $172,693       $   -0-              25,000
  Executive Vice President and President                    1999         160,000           -0-              10,000
  of Distribution Division                                  1998         160,193        16,500              50,000

David A. Berger                                             2000        $128,462       $   -0-              12,500
  Executive Vice President - Marine Sales                   1999         114,039           -0-              10,000
  and Marketing                                             1998         112,116        10,000              20,000

Dennis A. Castagnola,                                       2000        $128,462       $   -0-              12,500
  Executive Vice President                                  1999         114,039           -0-              10,000
                                                            1998         112,116        10,000              20,000

Stephen Bartolotta (2)                                      2000        $143,269       $   -0-              75,000
  Executive Vice President Strategic Planning
</TABLE>

----------------

(1)  Mr. Wannamaker left the Company's employ in March 2001.

(2)  Mr. Bartolotta joined the Company in 2000.

(3)  The bonuses paid for 1998 were awarded under an annual incentive
     compensation plan.


                                       4
<PAGE>   5

OPTION GRANTS

     Set forth in the following table is information relating to the options
that were granted to the Named Officers during the fiscal year ended December
31, 2000:

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                         POTENTIAL REALIZABLE VALUE
                                                                                                    OF
                                                                                         OPTIONS AT ASSUMED ANNUAL
                             NUMBER OF      PERCENT OF                                           RATES OF
                             SECURITIES    TOTAL OPTIONS                                STOCK PRICE APPRECIATION FOR
                             UNDERLYING    GRANTED TO ALL      EXERCISE                        OPTION TERM(6)
                              OPTIONS       EMPLOYEES IN        PRICE      EXPIRATION   ----------------------------
            NAME              GRANTED      FISCAL YEAR(4)    ($/SHARE)(5)     DATE           5%            10%
            ----             ----------    --------------    ------------  ----------   ---------       ------------
<S>                          <C>             <C>               <C>          <C>           <C>           <C>

Thomas R. McGuire                  --           N/A               N/A           N/A       $   N/A       $    N/A
Sandra A. Knell(1)             25,000          16.7%            $2.06       2/28/10        32,000         82,000
Jeffrey R. Wannamaker(2)       25,000          16.7              2.06       2/28/10        32,000         82,000
David A. Berger(1)             12,500           8.3              2.06       2/28/10        16,000         41,000
Dennis A. Castagnola(1)        12,500           8.3              2.06       2/28/10        16,000         41,000
Stephen Bartolotta(3)          75,000          50.0              2.00       2/17/10        95,000        239,000
</TABLE>

----------

(1)  These options vest in three approximately equal annual installments of
     33.3% of the shares covered by such options. To the extent not exercised,
     options terminate in the event of the optionee's cessation of employment
     with the Company.

(2)  Due to the cessation of Mr. Wannamaker's employment, all of his options
     have terminated.

(3)  Mr. Bartolotta's options vested in two equal annual installments of 37,500
     shares each, on the date of grant and on the first anniversary of that
     date, respectively, and, to the extent not exercised, will terminate in the
     event of a cessation of his employment with the Company.

(4)  The options shown in this table constitute all of the options granted to
     employees of the Company in 2000. Options to purchase 2,000 shares also
     were granted to each non-employee director in the year ended December 31,
     2000.

(5)  The exercise price of the shares subject to each option is equal to the per
     share price of the Company's common stock as reported on the American Stock
     Exchange on the date the option was granted. The exercise price may be paid
     in cash, in shares of the Company's Common Stock valued at fair market
     value on the date of exercise, or through a cashless exercise procedure.

(6)  Potential realizable value of the shares subject to these options
     represents an estimate of the amounts that the Named Officers would realize
     from the exercise of the options and the sale of those shares at the end of
     the ten year term of those options. Those estimates of potential realizable
     value are arrived at by assuming that the market value of those shares will
     appreciate over their ten year term at annual compounded rates of 5% and
     10%, respectively, and then deducting from those appreciated values the
     prices that the Named Officers would have to pay to exercise those options.
     However, this calculation is based on Securities and Exchange Commission
     requirements and is not our projection of future stock price growth or the
     future value of these options to the Named Officers. Accordingly, there is
     no assurance that the values that may be realized on exercise of such
     options will be at or near the values estimated in the table.

OPTION EXERCISES IN 2000

     No options were exercised by any of the Named Officers in 2000 and none of
the options held by any of the Named Officers were "in-the-money" at December
31, 2000, on which date the closing price of the Company's common stock on the
American Stock Exchange was $0.63 per share.


                                       5
<PAGE>   6

DIRECTOR'S COMPENSATION

     Directors who also are Company employees receive no compensation for
serving as directors. Non-employee directors are paid a retainer of $6,000 per
year and receive $1,500 for each Board of Directors' meeting attended and are
reimbursed for the out-of-pocket expenses incurred in attending those meetings.
No compensation is paid for attending meetings of Committees of the Board of
Directors on which directors serve. Pursuant to the Company's Employee Stock
Option Plans, each year each non-employee director is automatically granted an
option to purchase 2,000 shares of Company stock at an exercise price that is
equal to the fair market value of the shares on the date of grant. These options
become fully exercisable six months after the date of grant. Upon joining the
Board, each new non-employee director receives an option to purchase 2,000
shares, which becomes exercisable in full one year after the date of grant.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INTERLOCKS

     In fiscal 2000, the members of the Compensation Committee were Robert S.
Throop and John W. Casey, each of whom is a non-employee director of the
Company. No executive officer of the Company served on the board of directors or
compensation committee of any corporation or other entity which has one or more
executive officers serving as members of the Company's Board of Directors or of
its Compensation Committee.

COMPLIANCE WITH SECTION 16(a) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

     Based on its review of copies of reporting forms and certifications of the
Company's directors and executive officers, the Company believes that all filing
requirements under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
applicable to its directors and executive officers in the year ended December
31, 2000 were satisfied, with the exception of year end Form 5s to report the
grant of options to Mrs. Knell and Messrs. Wannamaker, Berger and Castagnola and
to Messrs. Frydman, Throop and Casey, which were inadvertently filed two days
late.


                                       6
<PAGE>   7

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT

     The following table sets forth, as of April 18, 2001, information regarding
the ownership of the Company's outstanding common stock by each person known to
management to own, beneficially or of record, more than five percent (5%) of the
common stock and by each director and the Named Officers of the Company and all
directors and officers of the Company as a group.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                        AMOUNT AND
   NAME AND ADDRESS                      NATURE OF              PERCENT
  OF BENEFICIAL OWNER             BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP(1)       OF CLASS
  -------------------             -----------------------       --------
<S>                               <C>                           <C>

Thomas R. McGuire                         720,329(2)              16.3%
   350 Woodview Avenue
   Morgan Hill, CA  95037
Dimensional Fund Advisors Inc.            388,100(3)               9.0%
   1299 Ocean Avenue
   Santa Monica, CA  90401
Ben A. Frydman                             17,000(4)                *
Robert S. Throop                           19,000(4)                *
John W. Casey                              13,000(4)                *
Sandra A. Knell                           138,132(5)               3.1%
David A. Berger                            96,166(5)               2.2%
Stephen Bartolotta                         75,000(5)               1.7%
Dennis A. Castagnola                       54,329(5)               1.2%
All directors and officers              1,132,956(6)              23.8%
   as a group (8 persons)
</TABLE>

----------

 *   Less than 1%.

(1)  Except as otherwise noted below, the persons named in the table have sole
     voting and investment power with respect to all shares shown as
     beneficially owned by them, subject to community property laws where
     applicable.

(2)  Does not include an aggregate of 50,016 shares held in trust for the
     benefit of Mr. McGuire's adult children, as to which Mr. McGuire disclaims
     beneficial ownership. Includes 76,250 shares subject to outstanding stock
     options exercisable during the 60-day period ending June 18, 2001.

(3)  In a report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dimensional
     Fund Advisors, Inc., an investment advisor registered under Section 201 of
     the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 ("DFA") reported that it possesses
     voting and/or investment power over these shares. According to that report,
     these shares are owned by four investment companies registered under the
     Investment Company Act of 1940 for which DFA serves as investment advisor
     and certain commingled group trusts and separate accounts for which DFA
     serves as investment manager. DFA has disclaimed beneficial ownership
     of all such shares.

(4)  Includes shares subject to outstanding stock options, as follows: Mr.
     Frydman -- 16,000 shares; Mr. Throop -- 14,000 shares; and Mr. Casey -
     6,000 shares.

(5)  Includes shares subject to outstanding stock options exercisable during the
     60-day period ending June 18, 2001, as follows: Ms. Knell -- 110,167
     shares; Mr. Berger -- 77,835 shares; Mr. Bartolotta -- 75,000 shares; and
     Mr. Castagnola -- 48,585 shares.

(6)  Includes 423,837 shares subject to outstanding stock options exercisable
     during the 60-day period ending June 18, 2001.


ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

     None.


                                       7
<PAGE>   8

                                   SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the Company has duly caused this Amendment to be signed on
its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Dated:   April 26, 2001                      THE COAST DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, INC.


                                             By: /s/ SANDRA A. KNELL
                                                 -------------------------------
                                                 Sandra A. Knell,
                                                 Executive Vice President and
                                                 Chief Financial Officer

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this
Amendment on Form 10K/A has been signed below by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
               SIGNATURE                                                TITLE                                    DATE
               ---------                                                -----                                    ----
<S>                                               <C>                                                       <C>

         /s/ THOMAS R. MCGUIRE*                   Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive       April 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------      Officer and Director
             Thomas R. McGuire


         /s/ SANDRA A. KNELL                      Executive Vice President (Principal Financial and         April 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------      Principal Accounting Officer)
             Sandra A. Knell


         /s/ ROBERT S. THROOP*                    Director                                                  April 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------
             Robert S. Throop


                                                  Director                                                  April , 2001
--------------------------------------------
             John W. Casey


         /s/ BEN A. FRYDMAN*                      Director                                                  April 26, 2001
--------------------------------------------
             Ben A. Frydman


*By:     /s/ SANDRA A. KNELL                                                                                April 26, 2001
     ---------------------------------------
             Sandra A. Knell,
             Attorney-in-Fact
</TABLE>


                                      S-1