I do not envy your position, it is a thankless task
. Sounds like your friend does not realise that other purchases like eyepieces, dew shields, decent battery, red torch, telrad etc will make life much better. I would go for slightly smaller aperture, but crisper optics eg ETX 125 . A second hand outfit will fit well with the budget and usually has all the basic accessories to enable an immediate start. The largest aperture you are likely to find for the 2K budget in goto with accessories would be an 8 inch Schmitt Cassegrain eg LX 200. This setup is portable with pleasing views which should keep your friend interested. Andrews has some reasonably priced Maksutovs, which give relatively crisp views. Best of luck